Newly announced federal benefits

Federal government announces new COVID-19 income supports

Yesterday, the federal government announced that they would be extending CERB by a month, expanding EI to allow more workers to qualify, and creating 3 new benefits. Among them, the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit is for people who are ill or must isolate due to COVID-19 and the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit is for those who have to stop working to care for a family member. 

These benefits will provide needed support to many of our patients impacted by COVID-19 and the creation of income supports for caregivers is a welcomed step.

It must be understood, however, that these benefits are not the same thing as paid sick days, which protect at first sign of symptoms. Before anyone can determine whether they have COVID-19, the flu, or another illness, our patients living paycheque-to-paycheque must be able to stay home at illness onset without losing the income they depend upon.

Moreover, in order to apply for the benefit, a worker must already have lost 60% of their weekly income due to illness, and then they can only apply for benefits after the fact. This is the kind of barrier that health professionals warn against in our recent report, "Before it's Too Late: How to Close the Paid Sick Day Gap During COVID-19 and Beyond."

As health experts, we’ve been calling for paid sick days for long before COVID-19 and we continue to call for paid sick days that are available to all, regardless of status.

This will be especially important as schools and workplaces continue to re-open. Provincial governments must act now to legislate paid sick days through employment standards, before we see spikes in cases and Fall peaks. 

Effective paid sick days allow our patients to stay home at the first sign of illness, with no barriers like application forms, delays to income, or required sick notes. Our report provides recommendations to the provinces, territories, and the federal government for how to best implement paid sick days. Read more here.

Join us as we continue to call for paid sick days policy that will protect us all, during and beyond COVID-19. Send an email to your province’s premier by clicking here.