Fast Facts: Roughly 4 million Canadians were receiving Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) in August and early September. The move from a $400 to $500 weekly amount in Employment Insurance (EI) and Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) will improve benefits for 1.8 million CERB recipients. 776,000 CERB recipients will receive no…
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This analysis has been updated following federal legislative changes. Read the update here. Fast Facts: More than 4 million Canadians will be affected when the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) winds down on September 27. 2.1 million CERB recipients will be eligible for CERB’s replacement, Canada’s revamped Employment Insurance (EI)—but…
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This analysis has been updated following federal legislative changes. Read the update here. Please note we are unable to assist individual CERB/EI recipients with their claims. We encourage you to contact the office of your member of Parliament for assistance with your Employment Insurance file. To find your member of Parliament…
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This analysis has been updated following federal legislative changes. Read the update here. Please note we are unable to assist individual CERB/EI recipients with their claims. We encourage you to contact your Member of Parliament’s office for assistance with your file. To find your Member of Parliament and their contact information,…
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On July 8th, the federal government will release its first fiscal update since December 16, 2019. The aborted spring budget, which was set to be released on March 30th, 2020, was swept away in the need for emergency action to support Canadians as COVID-19 forced the shut down of our…
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David Macdonald appeared as an expert witness before the federal Finance Committee June 18, to discuss banking and the government’s response to COVID-19. This is a copy of his prepared remarks. Thank you Mr. Chair and I’d like to thank the Committee for their invitation to speak to you today….
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Labour Force Survey key facts: In May, 2.7 million people lost their jobs and another 2.2 million had most of their hours cut compared to February. Since February, 4.9 million people have lost jobs or had most of their hours cut, an improvement from April when it stood at 5.5…
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Key facts: Oil sands and meat packing workers have seen terrifying COVID-19 outbreaks as they’ve stayed open in the first phase of the pandemic. Child care workers, construction labourers, servers, cashiers, and bus drivers have almost identical high risk scores as industrial butchers but, so far, they have been protected…
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April Labour Force Survey Key Facts: 3 million lost jobs, but another 2.5 million had a majority of their hours cut. 5.5 million Canadians lost work or a majority of their hours since February. 2 in 5 youth (aged 15 to 24) lost jobs or a majority of their hours….
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With provincial economies starting to reopen, we need to take a close look at the workers most at risk. Reopening is sometimes framed as if allowing businesses to switch on the “open” sign will immediately return everything to normal. But there are many more important considerations: workers and consumers need…
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