On April 1, 2020, the Federal Government provided further detail
on eligibility criteria for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit
(CERB), a recently announced program designed to provide temporary
income support of $2,000 per month to employees who have lost
income due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The portal for accessing
the CERB is expected to launch on April 6, 2020. Applicants will be
able to apply for the benefit retroactively to March 15, 2020.
In order to qualify for the CERB, applicants must have stopped
working for reasons related to COVID-19, because they are unable to
work due to illness, or because they have lost their employment for
other reasons beyond their control. When applying for the CERB,
employees will be required to attest that they do not expect to
receive income for at least 14 consecutive days. If so, they will
be eligible to receive the CERB for the first four week benefit
period. However, in order to be eligible to receive the CERB for
later
