Close X
Saturday, November 30, 2024
ADVT 
National

Morneau to unveil wage subsidy changes

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 17 Jul, 2020 05:00 PM
  • Morneau to unveil wage subsidy changes

Finance Minister Bill Morneau will outline today how the federal government is reshaping its emergency wage-subsidy program that has been extended to the end of the year.

The program is the heart of the Liberals' promise to help Canadians get back to work, even if has to be at a slower pace, as the pandemic wanes.

Morneau's fiscal update last week boosted the budget for the program to $82.3 billion from $45 billion in a sign of impending changes.

He has scheduled a news conference this afternoon at a restaurant in Toronto to make the announcement Prime Minister Justin Trudeau teased Thursday.

The government has been under pressure to ease eligibility rules, specifically around the requirement of a 30 per cent drop in revenues, so more companies under that cut-off can qualify.

The most recent federal figures for the program show the government has given almost $20.4 billion in payroll help to about 262,200 companies.

MORE National ARTICLES

COVID in all regions of Canada as Nunavut sees 1st case

COVID in all regions of Canada as Nunavut sees 1st case
COVID-19 has now spread to every region in Canada, with Nunavut reporting its first case on Thursday, as Ontario reported its largest one-day climb in fatalities and the country's budget officer predicted a staggering $252-billion deficit. The case in northern Nunavut was identified in the 1,600-strong largely Inuit community of Pond Inlet on Baffin Island. The territory's chief public health officer, Dr. Michael Patterson, said a rapid response team was on its way to the community to help manage the situation.

COVID in all regions of Canada as Nunavut sees 1st case

Military identifies service members missing in deadly helicopter crash

Military identifies service members missing in deadly helicopter crash
The Canadian military is deploying a flight investigation team to look into the causes of a helicopter crash off the coast of Greece that has claimed the life of at least one service member and left five others missing. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed during a news conference that six people were aboard the Cyclone helicopter that went down in the Ionian Sea on Wednesday as the aircraft was returning to the Halifax-based frigate HMCS Fredericton from a NATO training mission.

Military identifies service members missing in deadly helicopter crash

Budget officer says federal deficit could top $252 billion

Budget officer says federal deficit could top $252 billion
Parliament's budget watchdog says that it's likely the federal deficit for the year will hit $252.1 billion as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and could go even higher if emergency measures remain in place longer than planned. The figure is an estimate based on the almost $146 billion in spending measures the government has announced to help cushion the economic blow from the pandemic, estimated declines in the country's gross domestic product, and the price of oil remaining well below previous expectations.

Budget officer says federal deficit could top $252 billion

Canadian support for gender equality doesn't match reality, survey suggests

Canadian support for gender equality doesn't match reality, survey suggests
Canadian support for the principle of equal rights for women and men is among the highest in the world — but in practice, archaic attitudes towards gender roles are still alive and well both at home and around the globe, a new survey suggests. Respondents to the international Pew Research Center poll released Thursday expressed overwhelming support for the concept of gender equality — 93 per cent of Canadians surveyed ranked it as "very important," second only to Sweden at 96 per cent.

Canadian support for gender equality doesn't match reality, survey suggests

Feds to move on assault-style rifle ban

Feds to move on assault-style rifle ban
The federal government is poised to ban a variety of assault-style rifles, including the type used in the 1989 Montreal Massacre. During the fall election campaign, the Liberals said guns designed to inflict mass human casualties have no place in Canada.    

Feds to move on assault-style rifle ban

B.C. defers stumpage fees to aid forest industry during pandemic

B.C. defers stumpage fees to aid forest industry during pandemic
Premier John Horgan says in a news release the government will defer stumpage fees for the next three months to help forest companies with their financial liquidity during the crisis. Stumpage is the fee forest operators pay the province to harvest, buy or sell trees from Crown land.

B.C. defers stumpage fees to aid forest industry during pandemic