Odinson wrote: ↑September 19th, 2021, 3:33 pm
Are the Trudeaubucks just for business owners or do the employees get money too?
Our system works like this: If you're an employee that got laid off through no fault of your own (either due to Covid or otherwise), you are entitled to these benefits. This has always been though, and is nothing new. Length of these benefits has varied over time, but usually last around nine to ten months. It used to be called Unemployment Insurance, but they morphed it into what's called CERB/CRB now when Covid hit to simplify things. The requirements haven't changed though: You're supposed to look for work, and shouldn't deny any reasonable offer. They can ask you for proof about that, but it's not something that was ever heavily enforced. 'Reasonable offer' has never meant any offer, so that was always a 'loophole' if you will. Our system won't force an Engineer to work at McDonald's, for instance. Unemployment Insurance was always funded by both employee and employer payroll deductions, based on pay, so it's not something funded by 'general revenue' taxes. Basically what employees get and for how long hasn't changed much at all since pre-Covid times.
Here's the main difference post-Covid: Self employed, for the first time in Canadian history, have now been able to receive UI also. Self employed don't pay into UI even if they wanted to, and cannot lay themselves off even if there's no work. It's obvious why this rule is in place, as I could lay myself off every single year. So what the government did for the Covid hit, is allow the self employed to claim UI for the first time ever. It comes with the same strings attached as employee UI, but again refer to my first paragraph about that. And no, not everyone can claim to be self employed... You have to show you ran a bona fide business before Covid hit, with business registration number and a certain business revenue, which I did.
This is a one-time thing for the self employed. I doubt I will ever see it again in my lifetime.