Some Federal COVID-19 Benefits Just Got Extended & New Support Programs Have Been Introduced

A couple of federal COVID-19 benefits just got extended well into 2022 and new ones have been introduced as well.

On December 17, the federal government announced that royal assent has been given to Bill C-2, which provides support for workers and businesses so they can deal with the impact of the Omicron variant.

The new Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit has been introduced with this bill and it provides $300 of income support a week to eligible workers who are directly impacted by a public health lockdown in their region related to COVID-19 until May 7, 2022.

Also, the new Local Lockdown Program gives businesses that have to deal with temporary new local lockdowns up to the maximum amount that's available through the wage and rent subsidy programs.

Along with those new supports, two existing recovery benefits have been extended now that the legislation has received royal assent.

The Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB) and the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB) have been extended until May 7, 2022, and the maximum duration of both has been increased by two weeks.

The caregiving benefit is now extended from 42 weeks to 44 weeks, and the sickness benefit from four to six weeks.

People will be able to retroactively apply back to the week of November 21, 2021. Applications for period 61 of the benefits will start on December 20, 2021.

With the CRCB, a household can get $500 — $450 after taxes — for every one-week period. The CRSB offers individuals $500 — $450 after taxes — for a period of one week.

In the federal fiscal and economic update that was released on December 14, more COVID-19 support was proposed.

It outlined the government's intention to offset CERB-related debt for students who should've gotten the Canada Emergency Student Benefit instead and to extend simplified rules for deducting home office expenses as people have to work from home.