COVID-19: Cross Country Update (July 16-17, 2020)

Federal

The Government of Canada announced the following measures:

Proposed Expansion to Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy

Finance Minister, Bill Morneau, has announced proposed changes to the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) to broaden its reach including:

• Extending the CEWS until December 19, 2020;
• Making the subsidy accessible to a broader range of employers by including employers with a revenue decline of less than 30% and providing a gradually decreasing base subsidy to all qualifying employers;
• Introducing a top-up subsidy of up to an additional 25% for employers that have been most adversely affected by the pandemic;
• Providing certainty to employers that have already made business decisions for July and August by ensuring they would not receive a subsidy rate lower than they would have had under the previous rules; and