Updates to the Federal Government’s Emergency Wage Subsidy Program

On April 8, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced changes to Canada’s Emergency Wage Subsidy program. The Canada Emergency Wage subsidy provides 75 percent of an employee’s pre-crisis weekly remuneration or up to a maximum benefit of $847 per week, whichever is less. Additional details for charities and nonprofits have been released regarding the calculations for the loss of revenue.

Under the new changes, charities and nonprofits calculation of revenue is as follows:

• Nonprofits and charities are able to choose whether or not to include revenue from government sources as part of their calculation.

• You will only need to show a minimum loss of revenue of 15 percent for the month of March, rather than the previously announced 30 percent, to qualify for the Emergency Wage Subsidy program. However, for the months of April and May, applicants will need to show a minimum loss of revenue of 30 percent. This will help nonprofits and charities that were forced to close their doors midway through the month of March.

• You now have the option to either choose January and February of 2020 or the same month from 2019 to compare your loss of revenue.

• Calculations for loss of revenue will have to be applied the same way throughout the program period.

CCVO will continue to monitor the Emergency Wage Subsidy and provide you with updates that impact the sector.

For current federal and provincial policy updates regarding COVID-19, check out our COVID-19 Resources for Nonprofits.