The Canadian government recently announced that it will extend the number of weeks available for benefits under the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB), the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB), the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB) and Employment Insurance (EI). Canada introduced the three temporary recovery benefits to help individuals who required income support but did not qualify for EI, effective September 27, 2020.

The government announced these proposed changes on February 19, 2021. These regulatory and legislative amendments:

• Extend the maximum duration of CRB and the CRCB to 38 weeks (from 26 weeks)
• Extend the CRSB to four weeks (from two weeks)
• Extend EI regular benefits so they are available to a maximum of 50 weeks (from a maximum of 26 weeks), for claims that are made between September 27, 2020 and September 25, 2021.

The government also proposed to allow self-employed workers, who opted in to the EI program to access special benefits, to use a threshold of $5,000 of net self-employment income in 2020 (compared to the previous threshold of $7,555). This change would be retroactive to claims established as of January 3, 2021 and would apply until September 25, 2021.

For more information, contact your KPMG advisor.

Information is current to February 22, 2021. The information contained in this publication is of a general nature and is not intended to address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Although we endeavour to provide accurate and timely information, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate as of the date it is received or that it will continue to be accurate in the future. No one should act upon such information without appropriate professional advice after a thorough examination of the particular situation. For more information, contact KPMG's National Tax Centre at 416.777.8500