By Chris Brown

Update from the PM

CERB expanded to include part-time, seasonal workers, more

Apr 15, 2020 | 9:37 AM

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday announced a pay boost for some essential workers and an expansion of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit to get more money into the hands of Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Essential workers making less than $2,500 per month will see their pay increased by the federal government, working with the provinces.

The CERB will be expanded to include people making up to $1,000 per month, seasonal workers who were expecting a job that isn’t coming and those whose EI has run out since Jan. 1.

The prime minister said there will be news for post-secondary students and businesses worried about paying commercial rent in the coming days.

“No matter who you are or where you live, we’re in your corner,” said Trudeau.

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Trudeau also announced a portal for mental health resources will be released this week.

“From time to time we may feel overwhelmed by events. We’re in a situation that may seem unreal and it’s not always easy to deal with. This week the government is launching a new portal to bring together mental health resources and we’ll make them available to Canadians,” Trudeau said from outside Rideau Cottage.

On re-opening the the economy, Trudeau was blunt.

“It’s not happening yet,” he said.

“We’re making sacrifices and we need to hold on still and then, once we’re ready, once we feel we’re through, once the experts say we can re-open the economy a little bit we’ll take steps to do that,” Trudeau said.

He cautioned that re-opening the economy too soon could make the sacrifices made so far for naught and that Canadians need to continue doing what they’ve been doing for the past month.

“We need to get through this first wave before we can start releasing some of the rules around social distancing and staying at home,” he said, adding “it would be terrible” if the restrictions were released too early and leads to another big wave of infections.

“We will get through this together – for now we need to stay strong in our social distancing measures,” Trudeau said.

Testing measures continue to be ramped up, the PM said. A New Brunswick company is producing enough to be able to supply testing materials to the entire county and the government has secured enough swabs to meet testing needs across the country.

Trudeau also told Canadians meetings with leaders of other G7 countries continue to ensure a strong and effective global response.

As of Wednesday morning, Canada has 27,540 confirmed cases, 17 probable cases and 954 deaths. There have been 462,353 Canadians tested.

In Alberta, there are 1,870 cases and 48 deaths. A total of 79,695 Albertans have been tested. There are 914 recovered cases in Alberta.