Deputy Prime Minister and new Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, alongside Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion Carla Qualtrough, announced on Thursday new changes to federal income support programs for workers affected by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The new measures include broad changes to the Employment Insurance program and the creation of three new benefit programs.
In addition, Ottawa plans to extend the current Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) program by another four weeks for a maximum of 28 weeks worth of emergency benefits.
Most of the EI changes and the three new benefits will kick off on Sept. 27 and remain in force for one year, according to senior government officials.
The expected cost to taxpayers will be $8 billion for the one-month extension of CERB, $7 billion for the planned modifications to the EI program and $22 billion for the new benefit programs, the officials said.
There are currently around four million Canadians still receiving CERB. Of those, around three million are expected to transition to EI and one million to the other benefits, the government said.
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