The Justin Trudeau led Federal Government has announced $350 million in emergency funds for community groups and national charities that help seniors, the homeless and others made more vulnerable by the pandemic.
In a statement, the Prime Minister succinctly remarked that these organizations are struggling to help more and more people due to the global pandemic. Reports have it that the funds will support community groups through national organizations such as the United Way Canada, the Canadian Red Cross and the Community Foundations of Canada.
The PM explained that much of the money will flow through the three national groups to help Canada’s 86,000 registered charities deal with initial impacts of the pandemic, with a portion of funds going to small, independent organizations.
Trudeau said “Their mission has always been to help people in their time of need and that hasn’t changed”. “But COVID-19 is putting a tremendous amount of pressure on those organizations because more people need help.”
According to him, charities and non-profits are doing tremendous work to meet tremendous demand for their services.
Reports have it that Charities have seen a severe drop in donations since the pandemic broke out, with donors hurting financially themselves, and organizations unable to hold fundraising events.
Estimates from Imagine Canada, a charity that promotes the work other charities do, suggest donations will decline between $4.2 billion and $6.3 billion, and that between 117,000 and 195,000 workers could be laid off depending on the length of the COVID-19 crisis.
Unfortunately, the federal pledge falls short of the $10 billion charities had been asking for as a stabilization fund, but many are expected to access a wage subsidy program to help hire back laid-off staff.
The PM also announced opening online applications for 75-per-cent wage subsidy program. Federal officials told the House of Commons finance committee that they expect to process 90 per cent of applications by the first week of May, at which point payments will begin flowing.
Also, the Canada number one citizen stated that the Canada Revenue Agency is setting up a calculator so employers can see how much they can expect to receive from the wage-subsidy program, which will provide up to $847 per employee per week.
