The federal government s pandemic benefits have been extended for workers and businesses until Oct. 23, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough announced.
They said the decision to extend the benefits is in recognition that uneven economic reopening across regions and sectors means workers and businesses continue to need support.
The extensions include:
⢠Extending the eligibility period for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy and Lockdown Support until October 23, 2021, and increasing the rate of support employers and organizations can receive during the period between August 29 and September 25, 2021.
⢠Extending the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB), the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB), and the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB) until October 23, 2021.
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Restaurants Canada says the sector is key to feeding our recovery, but first they need to survive.
Officials say restaurants and bars won’t have the working capital to keep the doors open if subsidies are scaled back too soon.
According to a Restaurants Canada survey, 8 out of 10 foodservice businesses have been operating at a loss or barely scrapping by through the entire pandemic, with 45% consistently losing money for more than a year.
It also found 7 of 10 restaurant operators continuing to lose money expect they’ll need at least a year to return to profitability.
The non-profit association says if the industry is forced to contend with less and less government aid and rent subsidies, many will have to give-up and close their businesses for good as they won’t have enough money to make the transition.
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EDMONTON, Alberta, May 13, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) Restaurants Canada is calling for a sector-specific support package to recover more than 400,000 foodservice jobs including 52,500 jobs still missing from Alberta s restaurant sector. Restaurants are key to feeding Alberta s recovery and bringing back jobs, but first they need to survive, said Mark von Schellwitz, Restaurants Canada Vice President, Western Canada. If subsidies are scaled back too soon, they won t have the working capital they need to transition from survival to revival.
Restaurants account for most of Canada s pandemic employment gap
According to the April Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada, more than two thirds (70.9%) of the 503,000 jobs still missing from the Canadian economy in the wake of COVID-19 are from the foodservice sector.