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ARTICLE · 02 MAY 2020

Demystifying The Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB)

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On March 25, 2020, the Government of Canada announced that it was taking "strong, immediate and effective action" to protect Canadians and the economy from the impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

CanadaCoronavirus (COVID-19)
Andrew Bratt
Andrew Bratt
Elizabeth Kurz
Elizabeth Kurz
Alycia Riley
Alycia Riley
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On March 25, 2020, the Government of Canada announced that it was taking "strong, immediate and effective action" to protect Canadians and the economy from the impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic.  Along with many other relief programs, the government established the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) program, which provides temporary income support to employed and self-employed Canadians who have stopped working due to COVID-19. 

There has been some confusion about how the CERB interacts with the employment insurance (EI) regime and whether there is a difference between the two programs. In fact, before the CERB application portal went live on April 6, 2020, many Canadians applied for EI benefits despite being eligible for CERB and not for EI. 

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