COVID-19 Info
In light of the current Coronavirus Pandemic, C.T.C is well positioned to provide everything electronic for our clients: from the beginning to the end. We have a secured portal- access online to CRA website and all the Q/A can be done over the phone. There is no need for any meetings and social distancing can be maintained.
Below you will find answers to any questions you may have regarding Canada's Economic Response to COVID-19
If you require any further information please email us!
Increasing the Canada Child Benefit
The Government of Canada is providing an extra $300 per child through the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) for 2019-20. This will mean approximately $550 more for the average family.
This benefit will be delivered as part of the scheduled CCB payment in May.
Those who already receive the Canada Child Benefit do not need to re-apply.
Special Goods and Service Tax Credit Payment
There will be a one-time special payment by early May through the Goods and Services Tax credit for low- and modest-income families.
The average additional benefit will be close to $400 for single individuals and close to $600 for couples.
There is no need to apply for this payment. If you are eligible, you will get it automatically.
Extra Time to file Income Tax Returns
For individuals (other than trusts), the return filing due date will be deferred until June 1, 2020.
We will also allow any new income tax balances due, or instalments, to be deferred until August 31, 2020 without incurring interest or penalties.
If you expect to receive benefits under the Goods and Services Tax credit or the Canada Child Benefit, we encourage you to not delay your 2019 return filing to ensure that your entitlements are properly determined.
What is the Canada Emergency Response Benefit?
The CERB is sort of a catch-all benefit for anyone that is out of work because of COVID-19, whether they are EI-eligible or not. This is a taxable payment of $2,000/month, made every four weeks, for up to 16 weeks, and capped at $8,000 each. The program is effective from March 15, 2020 until October 3, 2020.
The Canada Emergency Response Benefit will be accessible through 
CRA My Account, which is the Canada Revenue Agency's secure web portal. If you have never registered for CRA My Account, you should get to that now. Once you register, the CRA will mail you an access code, which will take 5 to 10 business days. You can't access your account, or apply for CERB until you receive that access code and complete your registration.
How to Apply
If you are applying online:
You will need a CRA My Account to apply
*if you do not have a CRA My Account you can create one here
- Go to COVID-19: Canada Emergency Response Benefit in the alert banner at the top of the page
- Select the period you want to apply for
- Declare that you qualify for the benefit
- Confirm CRA has the right payment information
If your are applying by phone:
1-800-959-2019
- Select your language preference: English or French
- Follow the prompts to enter your information, including: your SIN, confirmation of your postal code, the period you are applying for
- Declare that you qualify for the benefit
Once you apply, you can expect to get your payment in 3 business days if you have signed up for direct deposit, and approximately 10 business days if you haven’t signed up for direct deposit.
If your situation continues, you can re-apply for a payment for multiple 4-week periods, to a maximum of 16 weeks (4 periods).
To help the government manage the amount of applications, they have set out the following guidance:
| If you were born in the month of: | Apply for CERB on: | Your best day to apply: |
| January, February, or March | Mondays | April 6 |
| April, May, or June | Tuesday | April 7 |
| July, August, or September | Wednesday | April 8 |
| October, November, or December | Thursday | April 9 |
| Any Month | Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays |
Further information on applying can be found on the CRA website
Eligibility
The CERB applies to any Canadian who has lost their income due to COVID-19, even those who are not eligible for EI. This means wage earners, as well as contract workers and self-employed individuals.
- residing in Canada, who are at least 15 years old;
- who have stopped working because of COVID-19 or are eligible for Employment Insurance regular or sickness benefits;
- who had income of at least $5,000 in 2019 or in the 12 months prior to the date of their application; and
- who are or expect to be without employment or self-employment income for at least 14 consecutive days in the initial four-week period.
This is eligible to Canadians who have lost their job, are sick, quarantined, or taking care of someone who is sick with COVID-19. It is also eligible to working parents who must stay home without pay to care for children who are sick or at home because of school and daycare closures. This includes self-employed people like consultants, tradespeople and freelancers.
Note: You will not qualify if you stopped working, but it was not because of COVID-19 (ie. you quit your job). Trudeau has been very clear that there will be consequences for those trying to game the system.
On April 15, we announced changes to the eligibility rules to:
- Allow people to earn up to $1,000 per month while collecting the CERB.
- Extend the CERB to seasonal workers who have exhausted their EI regular benefits and are unable to undertake their regular seasonal work because of COVID-19.
- Extend the CERB to workers who have recently exhausted their EI regular benefits and are unable to find a job because of COVID-19.
Should I Apply for EI or the CERB?
If you are already collecting EI, you will continue to collect it, so you should not apply for the CERB. If your EI runs out between now and Oct 3, 2020, then you can apply for CERB after it has run out.
If you've already applied for EI and the application is still being processed, then wait for that. Don't apply for CERB now.
If you are eligible for EI, but haven't applied, then apply for CERB. When your CERB runs out in 16 weeks and you're still out of work, you can then apply for EI benefits.
In addition, for other EI benefits, including maternity, parental, caregiving, fishing and worksharing, you should also continue to apply.
The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy
The Canadian government announced a 75% wage subsidy for qualifying businesses, for up to 12 weeks (March 15 to June 6, 2020). Funds are expected to become available in Mid-May, and will be distributed by the Canada Revenue Agency. Employers will be able to apply through the Canada Revenue Agency online portal.
If you haven't created a CRA My Business Account, you should register immediately here. Fill out the application, and after you hit submit, the CRA will mail you an access code, which will arrive in 5 to 10 business days, and is required to complete your registration.
You must be able to prove your business revenue has dropped by at least 15% because of COVID-19, during the month of March, and by at least 30% during the months of April, and May, when compared to the same months in 2019. A separate application will need to be submitted for each month.
This is 75% of an employee's salary, up to $58,700, which equates to as much as $847/week in government money for each employee. The employer then pays the other $282 (25% of $58,700), and can make their own decisions above that $58K.
Eligible employers includes employers of all sizes and across all sectors of the economy — there is no minimum or maximum number of employees, or a cap per business. It is unclear whether the CRA will require your tax filings and payments to be up to date before disbursing your subsidy.
This is to support small businesses who keep their staff on payroll from March 15 through mid-June.
Keep an eye on the CRA webpage for more details on how this will be administered.
Temporary Wage Subsidy
The originally announced wage subsidy of 10% will still be available for business owners that do not qualify for the 75% Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy. This program will cover 10% of the Gross Wages you pay from March 18, 2020 to June 19, 2020, up to $1,375 for each eligible employee and to a maximum of $25,000 total per employer.
When determining your next payroll remittance (due April 15), you determine the Gross Payroll between March 15 and March 31, and calculate 10% of it. Then you would reduce the Income Tax portion of your payroll remittance by that amount. You still need to pay the full amount of CPP and EI, so this is only a reduction to the income tax portion of the payroll remittance. Keep record of total wages paid between March 15, 2020 and June 20, 2020, and the number of employees paid during that time. You (or your payroll provider) will be responsible for calculating your own subsidy - the CRA will not do this for you.
For example, if you deducted $2,500 of income tax from your employees’ pay and calculated a subsidy of $2,050, you would reduce your current payroll remittance of federal, provincial, or territorial income tax by $2,050. You would remit $450 of income tax to the CRA. The remaining $2,050 that you keep would represent your subsidy.
You could continue reducing the income tax on future payroll remittances, up to $1,375 for each eligible employee and to a maximum of $25,000 total per employer, for all remuneration paid on or before June 19, 2020.
The subsidy will be considered taxable income to your business. Learn more here
Canada Emergency Business Account
This is an interest-free loan for small businesses of up to $40,000. The intention is to help cover their operating costs due to declined revenue because of COVID-19. The business would then need to repay the balance of the loan by December 31, 2022. There is a possibility of having 25% of your loan forgiven. Learn more about theCanada Emergency Business Account.To qualify, your business will need to show that they paid between $20,000 to $1.5 million in total payroll in 2019.
The program should be rolled out by late April. The loans will be administered through your bank and the government is guaranteeing the loan.
WCB (Alberta)
WCB premiums are deferred until early 2021. If you've already paid your WCB premium for 2020, you may be eligible for a rebate or credit for next year. Also, the government is going to cover 50% of the premium when it is due.