Canadian Press File Photo

By Chris Brown

Update from the PM

Wage subsidy to be extended past June

May 8, 2020 | 9:37 AM

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the federal government is extending the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy beyond June, just hours after Statistics Canada’s jobs report showed the Canadian economy lost almost two million jobs in April.

He also said the jobless numbers released today tell us what we already knew.

“Right now Canadians are hurting,” he said. “Everyone has their own story, but it all boils down to a very difficult time for a lot of people.”

April was the first full month in which the economy was virtually shut down while all but essential workers stayed home to prevent the spread of the deadly virus that causes COVID-19.

The April job losses of 1,993,800 comes on top of more than one million jobs lost in March.

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According to Statistics Canada, the unemployment rate jumped to 13.0 per cent as the full force of the pandemic hit compared with 7.8 per cent in March

“We will get through this and we will come back stronger than ever,” the prime minister said from outside Rideau Cottage during his daily address.

Trudeau said more details will be released next week about the extension of the wage subsidy, which will cover 75 per cent of wages, up to $847 per worker, for employers that have seen sharp declines in revenue since COVID-19 hit Canada hard in March.

He added employers have applied for the subsidy on behalf of more than two million workers.

“Canadians want to work so we will help them get back to work,” he said.

Trudeau repeated previous hopes that employers will use the subsidy to keep a connection with their workers, thereby making a reboot of the economy a little easier.

He again promised that support for specific sectors is forthcoming, but offered no further details. He also said the government will have more to say soon on how it is supporting seniors.

At the address, the prime minister promised more details today on previously announced aid for cultural, heritage and sport organizations.

Not long after it was announced that up to $326.8 million to be administrated by Canadian Heritage.

• $198.3 million will be provided to the beneficiaries of arts and culture funding via existing programs as well as other organizations with demonstrated needs;
• $72 million will be provided to the sport sector;
• $53 million will be provided to the heritage sector via the emergency component of the Museums Assistance Program;
• $3.5 million will be provided for COVID-related projects under the Digital Citizen Initiative.

Additionally, $55 million is to be distributed by the Canada Council for the Arts and $115.8 will support the Canadian audiovisual sector, to be distributed by the Canada Media Fund ($88.8 million) and Telefilm Canada ($27 million).

As of Friday morning, Canada had 65,399 confirmed cases, zero probable cases and 4,471 deaths. There have been 1,032,008 Canadians tested.

In Alberta, there are 6,017 cases and 114 deaths. A total of 163,510 Albertans have been tested.