On July 17, 2020, the Canadian Government released draft
legislative proposals (the "Amendments" or "Bill
C-20") to amend section 125.7 and other provisions of the
Income Tax Act (Canada) (the
"ITA").1.The Amendments extend the Canada
Emergency Wage Subsidy (the "CEWS") and significantly
expand the scope of the program by making it available to any
eligible employer that experiences a revenue decline for qualifying
periods starting on July 5, 2020.
The original CEWS was implemented for 12 weeks from March 15,
2020 to June 6, 2020. On May 15, 2020, Finance Minister Bill
Morneau announced that the Government of Canada would extend the
CEWS by an additional 12 weeks to August 29, 2020. The Canadian
Government is proposing a further extension of the CEWS to December
19, 2020.