On April 8, Minister Morneau further explained the eligibility criteria for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS).
The Federal Government is responding to concerns of the business community by amending previously announced conditions about the proposed CEWS:
- To measure revenue, compare the revenue of March, April and May 2020 to that of the same month of 2019, or to an average of the revenue earned in January and February 2020.
- For March, the Federal Government proposes to make the CEWS more accessible by reducing the 30 per cent benchmark of revenue losses to 15 per cent. For April and May, a business will need to demonstrate a 30 per cent loss, once again. This is to recognize that many businesses did not begin to be affected by COVID-19 until partway through March.
- In recognition that the time between when revenue is earned and when it is paid could vary between sectors, employers are now allowed to measures revenues either based on accrual accounting (as they are earned) or cash accounting (as they are received).
Additionally, the Federal Government is proposing that employers who are eligible for the CEWS be entitled to receive a 100 per cent refund for certain employer-paid contributions to EI and the Canada Pension Plan.
To read about the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (April 3), please click here.