The Government of Canada Temporarily Expands Access to Lockdown Program and Worker Lockdown Benefit

From: Department of Finance Canada

News release

December 22, 2021 – Ottawa, Ontario – Department of Finance Canada

The Government of Canada is committed to supporting Canadian workers and businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Today, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, announced the federal government’s intention to temporarily expand eligibility for key support programs to ensure Canadians are protected, and workers and businesses get the help they need to sustain them through new and necessary public health restrictions.

Using regulatory authority provided in Bill C-2, the government intends to introduce new regulations that would:

• Expand the Local Lockdown Program to include employers subject to capacity-limiting restrictions of 50 percent or more, and reduce the current-month revenue decline threshold requirement to 25 percent. Eligible employers will receive wage and rent subsidies from 25 percent up to a maximum of 75 percent, depending on their degree of revenue loss. The 12-month revenue decline test continues not to be required to access this support.
• Expand the Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit to include workers in regions where provincial or territorial governments have introduced capacity-limiting restrictions of 50 percent or more. As announced previously, this benefit will provide $300 a week in income support to eligible workers who are directly affected by a COVID-19-related public health lockdown and who have lost 50 percent or more of their income as a result.

These updated regulations will apply from December 19, 2021, to February 12, 2022. It is expected that public health authorities will continue to implement “circuit-breaker” restrictions that limit the spread of the Omicron variant COVID-19 across Canada.

More details on the expansion of these support measures are available in the backgrounder associated with this announcement.

“The Omicron variant is a real and serious threat to the health and safety of Canadians and the capacity of our health care system. In light of the public health situation and new restrictions in a number of provinces, we are temporarily expanding eligibility for key support measures offered for workers and businesses. The federal government will continue to help Canadians through the pandemic and ensure Canada’s economic recovery leaves no one behind.”

The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance

“Through the measures announced today, the Government is making sure Canadian workers have the support they need if their job is impacted by regional health measures and lockdowns. The evolving public health crisis has demonstrated the importance of adapting quickly and today’s announcement, together with the existing caregiving and sickness recovery benefits, demonstrates that the Government is ready and committed to supporting Canadians during these challenging times.”

The Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion

• Today’s expansion of support programs is expected to cost about $4 billion and will be fully covered by the $4.5 billion Omicron provision announced in the recent Economic and Fiscal Update 2021. This is in addition to the initial cost estimate of $7.4 billion when the programs were announced in October 2021.
• The Local Lockdown Program was introduced in October and became law on December 17, 2021. The proposed regulatory changes announced today would temporarily expand the initial eligibility requirement that organizations be subject to a lockdown. The program provides businesses that face new local lockdowns with up to the maximum amount of support available through wage and rent subsidy programs. The Local Lockdown Program is available from October 24, 2021, to May 7, 2022.
• The Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit was introduced in October 2021 and became law on December 17, 2021. The proposed regulatory changes announced today would temporarily expand the definition of a public health lockdown order and include provincial orders involving 50% or more capacity restrictions. The benefit provides income support of $300 per week to workers whose employment is interrupted due to a specific government-imposed public health lockdown and who are unable to work due to such restrictions. The benefit is available from October 24, 2021, to May 7, 2022.
• The government has recently implemented other new measures to ensure workers and businesses have the urgent help they need. This includes:
  • Extending the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit and the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit until May 7, 2022, and increasing the maximum duration of benefits by two weeks. This extends the caregiving benefit from 42 to 44 weeks and the sickness benefit from 4 to 6 weeks. People can now apply retroactively to November 21, 2021, and December 11, 2021.
  • Launching the Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Program, providing support through wage and rent subsidies to, for example, hotels, tour operators, travel agencies, and restaurants, with a subsidy rate of up to 75 percent. The eligible types of businesses are detailed in the legislation and a related backgrounder.
  • Launching the Hardest-Hit Business Recovery Program, providing support through wage and rent subsidies to other businesses that have faced deep losses, with a subsidy rate of up to 50 percent.
  • Extending the Canada Recovery Hiring Program until May 7, 2022, for eligible employers with current revenue losses above 10 percent and increasing the subsidy rate to 50 percent. This extension will help businesses hire back workers, increase hours, and create the additional jobs Canada needs for a robust recovery.

Source: CRA

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