Eligible Businesses Can Get Up To $847 A Week, Per Employee
OTTAWA – The federal government continues to enrichen and broaden the wage subsidy program for businesses that have shut down or scaled back their activities in many sectors of the economy because of the coronavirus.
On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the new 75 percent wage subsidy will be available to businesses of all sizes, as long as they’ve experienced a decrease in revenues of at least 30 percent because of COVID-19.
When he made the original announcement of the new subsidy last Friday, Trudeau said it would be available to small- and medium-sized businesses. He made clear on Monday that large businesses and non-profits will be eligible too.
“The number of employees you have will not determine whether or not you get the support,” he said during his daily televised addressed Monday. “It will apply to non-profit organizations and charities, as well as companies both big and small. This is about making sure that people are still getting paid whether they work for a business that employs 10 people or 1,000 people.
“This is about making sure you have money to buy groceries right now and a job to come back later, once we’re through this. Every business of every size is having to make some difficult decisions because of COVID-19 and that’s why the number of employees is not the eligibility criteria we’ve chosen.”
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There will be a cap on the money paid out to each employee and the employer will be encouraged but not obligated to make up the additional 25 percent.
The government will cover 75 percent of the first $58,700 of an employee’s salary, up to $847 per week. The program will be backdated to March 15.
“To businesses, we are trusting you to do the right thing. If you have the means to pay the remaining 25 percent that’s not covered by the subsidy please do so,” said Trudeau.
“And if you think this is a system that you can take advantage of or game, don’t. There will be serious consequences for those who do. This unprecedented situation calls for unprecedented action, and it calls for good faith and trust between everyone involved.”
Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), praised the government’s decision to broaden the eligibility requirement to businesses of all sizes.
“The decisions to make the wage subsidy widely available to employers of all sizes and structures is the right approach given the unique nature of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Kelly in a release. “The wage subsidy is the single best measure to help Canada prepare for a quick recovery the minute the emergency phase of the pandemic is over.”
The government also considerably enriched the program. It initially featured a 10 percent subsidy with a cap of $25,000 per business for a maximum of three months.
Huddle interviewed some of those business owners after that subsidy was announced, and like many others across the country, they said it wasn’t high enough to make a difference.
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The Trudeau government heard that feedback and came back this week with a much-higher subsidy. There is also no cap per business or timeframe set for the program at this stage.
“It’s important to send that message right now that if you’re a small business who is facing the impossible choice of laying off longtime employees because there’s just no money coming in, and you don’t know how long you’ll be able to keep operating, we’re there to help out,” he said during Friday’s announcement.