The Canada Emergency Response Benefit launched on April 6th to provide Canadians with $2000 per month to help those who have lost work due to COVID-19.

Canadians are eligible for the equivalent of $500 per week for up to 16 weeks or $2000 per month for 4 months totalling $8000.

Who is eligible

The Benefit is available to workers:

• Residing in Canada, who are at least 15 years old;
• Who have stopped working because of reasons related to COVID-19 or are eligible for Employment Insurance regular or sickness benefits or have exhausted their Employment Insurance regular benefits between December 29, 2019 and October 3, 2020;
• Who had employment and/or self-employment income of at least $5,000 in 2019 or in the 12 months prior to the date of their application; and,
• Who have not quit their job voluntarily.

When submitting your first claim, you cannot have earned more than $1,000 in employment and/or self-employment income for 14 or more consecutive days within the four-week benefit period of your claim.

When submitting subsequent claims, you cannot have earned more than $1,000 in employment and/or self-employment income for the entire four-week benefit period of your new claim.

(Taken Directly from canada.ca)

How To Apply

There are two ways to apply: directly through CRA or through Service Canada

If you apply through one you CANNOT apply through the other, so picking the correct one for your situation is crucial.

There are 2 key differences between the two: One being the payout schedule and the second is the re-application process.

With CRA, you will re-apply through your “My CRA Account” every application period on your specific day based on your birth month.

Monday: Jan, Feb Mar

Tuesday: April, May, June

Wednesday: July, Aug, Sept

Thursday: Oct, Nov, Dec

Friday, Saturday, Sunday: Everyone

Once you have applied through the CRA you will receive your payout of the full $2000 in approximately 3 business days.

When you apply through Service Canada, you apply the first time through the general CERB portal and then you will receive an access code in the mail in 4-10 days. Once you receive the access code, you will log into http://www.canada.ca/EI-internet-reporting to complete your report for the previous two to four week period (or two sets of two weeks).

After you have completed your report you will receive your payout of $1000 in 1-3 business days.

Every two weeks you will need to log on to the internet reporting and complete your report to continue receiving the $1000 every two weeks.

Eligibility Periods