TORONTO – The Directors Guild of Canada says the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) established to help Canadian workers through the Covid-19 crisis must be extended beyond its current 16-week cut off.
While the CERB program runs until October 3rd, the 16-week cap on benefits means Canadians who stopped working during the initial coronavirus shutdown in mid-March will lose support on July 5th, DGC pointed out in a press release on Thursday
“3.5 million Canadians signed up for CERB in the first 7 days and most will be getting their last cheque this week,” said DGC president Tim Southam. “Some will have EI to fall back on, but many in our industry and plenty of others will be left without any support.”
The maximum benefit period for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS), helping businesses keep Canadians employed by paying up to 75% of employee wages, was doubled from 12 to 24 weeks in mid-May, but the government has been silent on extending CERB.
“We’re asking that CERB be extended out to 24 weeks,” added Southam. “If we can do that for Canadian corporations that are struggling in this pandemic, surely we can do it for Canadian families who’ve lost their jobs and their income.”
The DGC has launched a petition to support its demands, which has garnered more than 12,500 signatures so far, as of this writing
