Wage Subsidy Extended, Disability Payment, Time Limits Relief

Summary#

This bill makes further COVID‑19 measures in three parts. It changes and extends the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) to support employers with large revenue drops. It authorizes a one‑time payment program for persons with disabilities by allowing limited information sharing among federal departments. It also creates temporary rules to suspend or extend legal time limits that were hard to meet during the pandemic.

• Extends CEWS to November 21, 2020, with a possible extension to December 31, 2020, by regulation (Part 1; definition “qualifying period” (c.1)–(d)).
• Introduces a sliding‑scale CEWS based on revenue loss and a “top‑up” for the hardest‑hit employers, with a higher weekly cap for later periods (s.125.7(1)–(2)).
• Updates who and what counts for CEWS, including baseline pay periods, reference months, asset sales, and anti‑avoidance (s.125.7(1), (4.1)–(4.2), (6), (9)).
• Authorizes a one‑time payment to persons with disabilities and allows targeted data sharing to run it; payments come from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (Part 2).
• Temporarily suspends many court deadlines and lets ministers extend time limits in listed laws and regulations, with transparency and a firm end date (Part 3).

What it means for you#

• Households

  • If you are a person with a disability, the bill authorizes a one‑time federal payment related to COVID‑19. It does not set the amount or eligibility in the law; it enables the program and data sharing to deliver it (Part 2).
  • Your personal data held by Veterans Affairs, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), or Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) may be shared only to administer that disability payment, and only to the extent needed (Part 2).

• Workers

  • Your employer may qualify for CEWS even with smaller revenue losses, because the subsidy uses a sliding scale in later periods. This can help keep you on payroll, including if you were rehired (s.125.7(1) “base percentage,” “top‑up percentage,” “eligible employee”; s.125.7(2)).
  • Weekly CEWS support for active employees in later periods is based on your pay and the employer’s revenue drop, up to $1,129 per week (s.125.7(2)(b)(ii)).

• Businesses and nonprofits

  • CEWS is extended through November 21, 2020, with a possible extension to December 31, 2020, by regulation. Applications must be filed before February 2021 (definition “qualifying period” (c.1)–(d); s.125.7(1) “qualifying entity” (a)).
  • The subsidy rate equals a base rate tied to your current‑month revenue drop plus a top‑up for a 3‑month average drop over 50%, capped at 25%. The base rate steps down over time (s.125.7(1) “base percentage,” “top‑up percentage,” “top‑up revenue reduction percentage”).
  • Maximum eligible weekly pay for subsidy calculations in later periods is the least of actual pay, $1,129, or baseline pay for non‑arm’s‑length employees (s.125.7(2)(b)(ii) G).
  • You can choose alternative baseline pay windows (e.g., March–May 2019, July–December 2019) to better reflect normal pay, and you can elect cash or accrual accounting for all periods (s.125.7(1) “baseline remuneration”; s.125.7(4)(e)).
  • If you bought “all or substantially all” of another business’s assets, you can attribute the seller’s historical revenue from those assets to your revenue tests, with elections and conditions (s.125.7(4.1)–(4.2)).
  • Anti‑avoidance rules are tightened, including for amalgamations and transactions to inflate CEWS or qualify improperly (s.87(2)(g.6); s.125.7(6), (8)).
  • A deeming rule eases the “revenue‑decline cliff”: if your revenue reduction is lower in a later period, you may use the prior period’s percentage for that period’s rate calculation (s.125.7(9)(b)).

• Courts and litigants

  • Most court‑related time limits set by federal law are suspended from March 13, 2020 to September 13, 2020, unless lifted earlier by order. Courts can vary suspensions within a six‑month cap and address missed‑deadline effects (Part 3 “Suspensions” (1)–(4)).
  • This does not apply to criminal or other offence investigations or proceedings, or to time limits under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (Part 3 “Non‑application” (1)–(2)).

• Regulated parties under listed federal Acts and regulations

  • Responsible ministers can order up to six‑month suspensions or extensions of time limits and periods in specified laws and regulations, with retroactivity back to March 13, 2020 if stated. No order can extend a limit past December 31, 2020 (Part 3 “Ministerial orders” (1)–(7)).
  • Orders must be posted on a Government of Canada website within 5 days and in the Canada Gazette within 14 days, and tabled in Parliament; these powers cannot be used after September 30, 2020 (Part 3 “Transparency and Parliamentary Oversight”; “Sunset provision”).

Expenses#

• Estimated net cost: Data unavailable.

• Key points from the bill and official text:

  • CEWS changes are delivered through the Income Tax Act as a refundable credit (a deemed overpayment). No dollar appropriation is set in the bill; total cost depends on take‑up and rates over the added periods (s.125.7(2); Part 1).
  • The disability payment program is authorized, and all related payments and administration costs are to be paid from the Consolidated Revenue Fund; the bill does not state per‑person amounts or totals (Part 2 “Payment out of Consolidated Revenue Fund”).
  • Time limit measures may shift workload across 2020 but do not include appropriations; fiscal impacts, if any, are operational and not priced in the bill (Part 3).
  • No official fiscal note is included in the bill text. Data unavailable.

Proponents' View#

• CEWS targets help to the hardest‑hit employers by combining a base subsidy with a top‑up tied to a deeper 3‑month revenue drop, up to an extra 25% (s.125.7(1) “top‑up percentage”).
• The sliding scale reduces “all‑or‑nothing” effects and helps more firms with moderate losses, supporting job retention as revenues recover (s.125.7(1) “base percentage”; s.125.7(9)(b)).
• Extending CEWS through late 2020 gives certainty to employers and workers and supports rehiring as the economy reopens (definition “qualifying period” (c.1)–(d)).
• More flexible baseline pay windows and revenue attribution after asset sales reduce distortions for seasonal businesses and firms that restructured before or during COVID‑19 (s.125.7(1) “baseline remuneration”; s.125.7(4.1)–(4.2)).
• The disability payment provides targeted, one‑time help to people with disabilities who faced extra pandemic costs, with limited data sharing to deliver it quickly (Part 2).
• Suspending and extending federal time limits prevents unfair losses of rights and missed deadlines caused by shutdowns, while requiring public posting, Gazette publication, and parliamentary tabling for oversight (Part 3 “Transparency and Parliamentary Oversight”).

Opponents' View#

• Program complexity increases. The new CEWS formulas, varying base rates over time, top‑ups, and special rules for paid leave add compliance burdens, especially for small employers (s.125.7(1)–(2)).
• Cost risk is high and uncertain. The bill extends eligibility periods and raises weekly caps in later periods ($1,129), but does not cap total spending; take‑up could exceed expectations (s.125.7(2)(b)(ii) G). Data unavailable.
• Potential inequities remain. Firms with similar losses could receive different subsidies due to reference‑period elections or the deeming rule that carries forward a higher revenue‑drop percentage (s.125.7(4)(e); s.125.7(9)(b)).
• Anti‑avoidance may be hard to enforce. Despite new rules for amalgamations and transactions, detecting revenue manipulation or non‑arm’s‑length pay changes can be challenging (s.87(2)(g.6); s.125.7(6)).
• Privacy and scope concerns. The disability payment relies on inter‑departmental data sharing; although limited to program use, some may question safeguards and data minimization (Part 2).
• Legal uncertainty and fairness risks. Retroactive ministerial orders changing time limits, even with transparency, may create confusion for regulated parties and uneven application across statutes (Part 3 “Ministerial orders” (5)–(7)).