COVID-19 – Govt of Canada Support – Update#4

Message from Mr. Chandra Arya, Member of Parliament, Nepean

The COVID-19 crisis is unprecedented and probably for the first time in history, all countries have closed their borders to foreigners. Society, individuals, and businesses in every country are affected and when things come back to normal, it will not be all the same again.
We all know individual Canadians and businesses are greatly affected. Please remember, we will face this together, and we will get through this together.

  1. About 5.08 million Canadians (about one in every fourth person in Canada’s workforce) have already applied as of this morning for the federal government’s Canada Emergency Response Benefit that provides $2000 per month to Canadians who lose income due to COVID-19.
  2. Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) is still on. This time we will be funding 100% of the salaries for all employers (before the private sector was funded 50%). The list of employers will be announced late this month and the work can begin May 4. While the last date for employers to apply for CSJ was Feb 2020, if you have any organization that provides essential/critical services and would like to hire now, please ask them to contact me immediately. The employment can go beyond this summer until February 28, 2021. Under CSJ, in summer 2019, we invested about $1.0 million in Nepean funding about 100 organizations to employ about 250 young Canadians.
  3. We have also provided $100 million to organizations like Food Banks Canada, Salvation Army, Second Harvest, Community Food Centres Canada, and Breakfast Club of Canada who will work with partners to meet the urgent food needs and other basic necessities.
  4. We have provided United Way with $9.0 million to support seniors across the country and help them cope with the impact of the pandemic
  5. We are also increasing the Canada Child Benefit by $300 per child.
  6. For low and modest-income families we are providing a supplementary payment under the GST Credit of close to $400 per adult and $600 per couple.
  7. Our Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy provides 75% of wages. This significant support will help employers keep their staff on payroll and position themselves to rebound when the outbreak has passed. We will continue to do whatever it takes to ensure that workers and businesses have the support they need during these difficult times.
  8. Our Canada Emergency Business Account provides $40,000 interest-free loans to small businesses and not-for-profits. These loans are guaranteed and funded by the federal government. Repaying the loan before Dec 2022 will result in loan forgiveness of 25% (up to $10,000).
  9. We have brought back over 10,000 Canadians stranded in about 40 countries. We will continue to work hard on this but no guarantees that we will be successful in bringing back every Canadian from every country.
  10. We have created Canada’s new interactive COVID-19 Situational Dashboard that will help keep you and all Canadians up-to-date with the evolving COVID-19 situation in Canada. We have also created Canada COVID-19 mobile app for guidance for seeking medical help. This helps reduce the strain on 811 and telehealth lines, as well as in-person services such as walk-in clinics and visits to family doctors and urgent care centres.

Please visit www.Canada.ca/coronavirus for complete details of all federal government support to Canadians – both individuals and businesses.

My priority and our government’s priorities are making sure that everyone who needs help should get it.

Stay safe.

Chandra Arya
Member of Parliament/Député – Nepean
Working hard for you

240 Kennevale Dr, Suite 201, Nepean K2J 6B6
Tel. (613) 825-5505; chandra.arya@parl.gc.ca
www.ChandraArya.ca
www.Facebook.com/ChandraNepean
Twitter: @ChandraNepean