On April 8, 2020, Prime Minister Trudeau clarified and announced adjustments to the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy program, providing flexibility to start-up or fast growing businesses and charities.
Further to the information outlined in our blog dated April 2, now a business can choose to use January and February of this year as the reference point for the revenue drop, rather than comparing to the same month last year (as previously announced). Furthermore, a drop in revenue of only 15% will be required for March 2020, in recognition that the impact for most businesses began to be felt mid-March. The government will also allow businesses the option to use cash accounting, instead of accrual accounting, for purposes of calculating the revenue drop.
Charities and not-for-profit corporations can also choose to include or exclude government subsidies when calculating the revenue drop.
The Prime Minister also announced that businesses providing summer job programs for students would be eligible for subsidies of up to 100% of the wages paid to students, and job placement deadlines for students have been extended to Winter, 2020 in recognition of the delays the current pandemic has had. Part-time student hires will also be eligible for this subsidy.
Watch this space for more details as they are released.