CoVid - Applying for the NEW emergency fund for laid off people & others.

[tjthemanto]

Even if you DON'T qualify, and are in desperate situation, apply anyway and get the money. The worst thing that can happen is that you will have to pay that money back, WITHOUT any interest or penalties, next year 2021. That's all, nothing more, nothing less.

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/...b67ee531f055be

Is The CERB Basically An Interest-Free Loan Anyone Can Apply For

[tjthemanto]

ok.. please bare wit me ..

if you have already recieved the first CERB payment... when do you apply for the 2nd... the chart you showed above starting april 13....

and where did you find this information

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-age...-with-cra.html

Eligibility periods

Eligibility periods are fixed in 4-week periods.
If your situation continues, you can re-apply for CERB for multiple 4-week periods, to a maximum of 16 weeks (4 periods).

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Lot of companies are getting laid off workers who applied for the FIRST period CERB back on the pay roll due to WAGE subsidies from the government.

They didn't want to pay the workers, but now that the government is paying their salary through wage subsidies, they suddenly want them back.

These employees are NO longer eligible for CERB as they now have employment income. So even if they got the First period CERB, second period onwards they won't get CERB, but they will get salary from their employer. You can't have both.

Hence the government has kept it at 4 weeks period and want you to re apply every 4 weeks as the situation changes. They don't want it to be a ONE time application for all 4 periods. You will end up applying at least 4 times, if you want the full - $ 8,000.

You can even stop and restart the application periods.
Need not be 4 consecutive periods.

Could be 2 CERB payments, then 2 months of work income, then again 2 CERB payments if you are laid off again.

Any 4 out of the 7 periods you can apply for, but maximum 4 only, depending on your employment situation.

4-week period cycle	Period dates
1	March 15, 2020 to April 11, 2020
2	April 12, 2020 to May 9, 2020
3	May 10, 2020 to June 6, 2020
4	June 7, 2020 to July 4, 2020
5	July 5, 2020 to August 1, 2020
6	August 2, 2020 to August 29, 2020
7	August 30, 2020 to September 26, 2020

[princessjen]

So, come the second last week of April my employer will no longer be paying me to stay home and I will only be working 4 hours a week, even though I would normally work full time. Am I able to get any EI? I find this all really confusing.

[lizzie bargain]

I think the PM may be trying to come out with something to help you out so don't despair yet! You can try applying for EI but I think he might also be modifying the CERB for workers like you.

[tjthemanto]

So, come the second last week of April my employer will no longer be paying me to stay home and I will only be working 4 hours a week, even though I would normally work full time. Am I able to get any EI? I find this all really confusing.

Yes they are coming up with something for workers who are working less than 10 hrs a week or those who were already unemployed even before Covid stuck, and are neither eligible for EI or CERB.

Close to 1 million people like you out there - neither EI not CERB is helping them.

The ideal situation is your employer should apply for the 75% wage subsidy just announced and pay you at least 75% of your salary and keep you on the payroll.

Of course the employer can also top up the remaining 25% if they want, very unlikely they will do that though. - CEWS


https://www.canada.ca/en/department-...e-subsidy.html

[tjthemanto]

Very good site to see what's available to you from Federal & Provincial guys. Constantly updated.
Just choose your province.

https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/coronavirusbenefits/

[tjthemanto]

What happens if you delay your CERB application for 2-3 months, and don't apply now or the second period.

But decide to apply in the third period in say May. Do you still get retroactive payments from March 15 - so $6,000 for first, second and third period together?

Or your first and second period money is gone, because you didn't apply then, even though you qualified and only applied in the third period.

Some people are unsure if they qualify or not, and out of CRA 😱 fear are not applying, and they probably do qualify. They should not be penalised if they apply 1-2 months from now, instead of right now, as they are clearing up the confusion.

[tjthemanto]

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he wants the government to lift all criteria for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit to allow any Canadian who is in financial distress due to COVID-19 to qualify for benefits.
Singh says he has heard from many Canadians who do not qualify for the emergency benefit program, which opened to applicants this week, including people who are still earning a small income, students and those who were unemployed before the pandemic began.
Singh says he is in negotiations with the Liberals and has received assurances from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that gaps in the program will be addressed.
But the NDP leader says Trudeau could go even farther and drop all criteria to ensure all those who need help can apply

[lizzie bargain]

I checked online this a.m. and it looks like I can apply for the second payment tomorrow.

[Ciel]

I read this article today on The Hamilton Spectator site. He's a younger sibling of someone I went to school with. Had no idea he was in the ranks of Service Canada nor was bilingual.
https://www.thespec.com/ts/politics/...can-thank.html

Instead, from the realization a new program was needed when legislation was tabled in the House of Commons on March 24, six days had passed. After that, it was a matter of testing the system to make sure it could handle the volume, and then applications opened April 6.

[tjthemanto]

Seasonal Workers will be included soon in CERB. They are working on it.

https://globalnews.ca/news/6808640/c...s-coronavirus/

[tjthemanto]

Lot of low income seniors and people with disabilities have been left out of CERB.

I don't think they should be getting full CERB as they are already getting some other government money like OAS, GIS, ODSP etc, which remains unaffected. But there should be some top up on that during these times, as those benefits are not much.

If not the full - $ 2,000 then at least the difference between whatever paltry current government program they are on and CERB should be given to them.

Poor seniors and people with disabilities are actually the most vulnerable and likely people to get infected by Covid and end up in a hospital, due to their health and financial situation.

Lot of these disability benefits/programs are a joke they barely cover rent and food. You will see people at food banks due to this.

[tjthemanto]

Open for SECOND period application, now.

Same staggered application days as before, depending on your Month of Birth, to prevent website from crashing.

You can even apply for the FIRST period in case you were eligible, but didn't apply as you didn't know how to or were confused about eligibility.

[lizzie bargain]

Applied again this a.m.

[tjthemanto]

You can apply by phone on any day of the week irrespective of your Month of Birth.

So if you don't want to wait till Thursday for October to December birth guys, to apply through CRA then just apply by phone. The money will come this week. If you apply on Thursday, money will come next week due to Saturday/Sunday.

Phone application is very simple, just automated, press 1, press 2 kind of thing.

Just asks for the SIN & year of birth and answer yes to the qualification criteria. Call only below numbers for automated CERB call, not regular CRA or Service Canada number.

Before you callTo verify your identity, you'll need

• your social insurance number (SIN)
• postal code

Telephone numberFollow the instructions below before you call1-800-959-2019 or 1-800-959-2041