‘CERB’ switching over to new program under Employment Insurance on Sunday
Posted Sep 25, 2020 8:52 am.
Last Updated Sep 25, 2020 11:43 am.
OTTAWA – The Canada Emergency Response Benefit is changing over to a new program under Employment Insurance as of Sunday.
The Trudeau government has sided with NDP demands to make the new EI payments equal to the $2,000 a month benefit people had been receiving under CERB.
Of the four million people nation-wide who will see their CERB payouts end on Sept. 27, only 2.1 million are going to eligible for EI.
Part of the qualification for the new program will be a Record Of Employment from your previous employer with at least 120 hours of work.
Other temporary benefits are supposed to cover many who don’t currently qualify for Employment Insurance.
People who have been getting the CERB through Service Canada should be seamlessly transferred to the new program. However, if you’ve been getting paid through the Canada Revenue Agency, you’ll have to re-apply through the Service Canada site.
The biggest change, according to the Toronto Star, is that you’ll have to be ready to self-report every two weeks to continue getting cash.
EI payments are also taxed at the source, so they may be different than what they were under the emergency benefit.
