Only One-Third of Unemployed Canadians Will Receive Assistance from Employment Insurance or Canada Emergency Response BenefitAn analysis released April 2 by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) indicates that amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, 862,000 unemployed workers will receive nothing from either Employment Insurance (EI) or the new Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB).[1]
"If you were unemployed before COVID-19 hit, you get nothing from CERB, even though the prospects of finding work right now are virtually non-existent," says David Macdonald, CCPA senior economist and author of the new analysis. "Canada's unemployed workers are sacrificing their pay in order to stop the spread of the virus. We need to recognize that and give them the support they need to survive on the economic front lines." Fourteen per cent of unemployed people (390,000) are receiving some support from EI, but less than the $500 a week others will get under CERB, the CCPA analysis shows. Social assistance recipients who work under normal circumstances could also be forced to pay 100 per cent of the CERB back in provincial clawbacks. Macdonald also notes that, based on comparable EI numbers, three per cent (47,000) of laid-off workers who might qualify to receive the CERB will not receive it because of not knowing about the program. The CCPA also states that another 175,000 workers will not receive the CERB despite being laid off due to the pandemic because they didn't make the required minimum earnings of $5,000 in 2019. The CCPA's recommendations for addressing current gaps in the EI/CERB income support programs include: extending access to the CERB to all unemployed persons, even if they lost their job before the onset of COVID-19; eliminating the $5,000 annual earnings requirement for eligibility; and topping up all present EI recipients to the CERB flat rate of $500 weekly if their present EI benefits fall below that level. The CCPA is also calling on the federal
government to coordinate with the provinces and
territories to ensure the CERB is not clawed back
from social assistance going to some of the most
vulnerable workers. Note
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The CCPA report
states that approximately 1.2 million Canadians
were unemployed before the pandemic, but this
figure increased by another 1.5 million in the
initial round of COVID-19 layoffs. Of those who
lost their jobs before COVID-19, 604,000 are not
eligible for EI but also can't get the CERB,
because their employment didn't cease due to the
virus.
