Covid-19: Canada Recovery Hiring Program

The Canada Recovery Hiring Program was announced during the 2021 Federal Budget. This new program will be effective from June 6 to November 20, 2021. The subsidy may reach 50% of the additional remuneration.

Eligible Employers

Eligible employers for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) would normally be eligible for this new program unless their corporation is not a Canadian-controlled private corporation.

Eligible employers would be required to have an open payroll account number with the Canada Revenue Agency on March 15, 2020.

Eligible Employees

An eligible employee must be employed by an eligible employer, primarily in Canada, throughout the claiming period. The subsidy is not available for an employee on paid leave. Annual, sick or sabbatical leave is not considered paid leave.

Eligible Remuneration

The eligible remuneration is the same as the one for the CEWS. Eligible earnings are also limited to $1,129 per week.

The eligible remuneration generally includes salaries, wages and other compensation for which an employer is required to withhold or deduct to amounts as payroll deductions. However, it does not include severance pay or items such as employee stock option benefits or personal use of a company vehicle.

Baseline Remuneration

The baseline remuneration is the eligible remuneration the employee received during the period 14 of the CEWS which is from March 14 to April 2021.

Subsidy Amount

The subsidy amount would be equal to the additional remuneration multiplied by the subsidy rate, i.e., a rate starting at 50% and being gradually reduced to 20% for the last period.

Reference Periods and Subsidy Rate

_{^* Period 17 of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy would be the first period of the Canada Recovery Hiring Program.}

Revenue Drop Threshold

To be eligible for the program, an employer would have to have a sufficient drop in revenue to be eligible for the CEWS for that period. For periods during which the CEWS is no longer in effect, the drop in revenue should be greater than 10%. Thus, the drop in revenue of an eligible employer should be greater than :

• 0% for the period from June 6, 2021 to July 3, 2021 (Period 18 of the CEWS)
• 10% for the periods between July 4, 2021 and November 20, 2021

The drop in revenue should be calculated according to the same choices made for the CEWS.

The reference periods for the drop-in-revenue test are as follows:

An application for the program must be filled out per period within 180 days following the end of this claim period.