Even before the discovery of the Omicron variant, thoughts of economic recovery were a far way off for many Canadian businesses. With the waves of COVID-19 continuing, the federal government has had to alter its plans to phase out pandemic support programs.
The Liberals recently tabled legislation aimed at giving targeted support to businesses still struggling. Bill C-2: An Act to provide further support in response to COVID-19, is now being debated in the House of Commons’ Finance Committee.
Deputy Prime Minister Freeland says she hopes this legislation will be the final stage of recovery and that “Parliament will pass this legislation expeditiously so that Canadians can get the support they need and without undue delay.”
The Liberal government estimates that these new targeted benefits, in place until May 2022, will cost around $8 billion. This new spending is designed to replace other pandemic benefits such as the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS), the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) and the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB). All of which ended in October.
What do the benefits in Bill C-2 mean for Canadians?
The legislation proposes an extension of the Canada Recovery Hiring Program (CHRP) until May 7, 2022. This is to help businesses continue to hire back workers, increase hours, and create additional jobs. Also, under the CHRP, three programs would be available to help with wage and rent support — the Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Program (THRP), Hardest Hit Business Recovery Program (HHBRP) and the Local Lockdown Program (LLP).
The new LLP would provide businesses facing temporary local lockdowns up to the maximum amount available through the wage and rent subsidy programs. The LLP benefit would also provide $300 a week in income support to eligible workers who are directly impacted by a COVID-19-related public health lockdown in their region. Eligible workers may be able to receive this support retroactively from October 24, 2021.
The bill also proposes to extend the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit and the Canada Recover Sickness Benefit. This would increase the maximum duration of those benefits by another two weeks.
Currently, this legislation is now with the Finance Committee for review. Collaboration between the government and opposition parties expedited the legislation through First and Second Reading in the House of Commons.
Government House Leader Mark Holland said he’s confident it will be fully approved before MPs return home for the holidays in just over two weeks. These benefits will mean that Canadian businesses can continue to rely on the federal government for financial support as they continue to navigate their way through this pandemic.
