The federal government is extending the emergency wage and rent subsidies, as well as lockdown support, until June.
According to Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, the various supports will be extended to June 5, rather than expiring mid-March as previously scheduled. The cost of the extension is estimated at $13.9 billion.
During a press conference in Ottawa Wednesday (March 3), Freeland said that the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy would remain at 75 per cent per active employee for the worst-affected employers, the rent subsidy would remain at 65 per cent and lockdown support would stay at 25 per cent. The rent subsidy and lockdown support can be combined for a total of a 90 per cent rent subsidy.
In a press release, the feds said that furloughed employees with employers who qualify for the wage subsidy could receive up to $595 per week.
Freeland said that while news of new vaccines is encouraging, the pandemic is not yet over.
“We cannot definitively say that we have turned a corner,” she said, noting that the Canadian economy contracted 5.4 per cent in 2020 – the worst year on record.
READ MORE: Canadian economy contracted 5.4 per cent in 2020, worst year on record
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