The federal Liberals are rolling out a $37-billion income support plan for workers whose earnings have crashed during the pandemic. The details released Thursday outline what will happen to some four million workers receiving the $500-a-week Canada Emergency Response Benefit, which is set to wind down starting next month. The CERB will be extended another […]
The Investment Industry Association of Canada is calling on the federal government to make improvements to tax-assisted retirement savings programs, modernize the country’s employment insurance system and introduce a benefit training program. In its written submission for the House of Commons standing committee on finance’s pre-budget consultations, the IIAC suggested the 2020 federal budget include […]
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has issued additional reasons for judgment in a long-running unpaid overtime class action lawsuit against Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. The court has followed up on its summary judgment decision from March 30, 2020, ruling the bank’s current overtime policy is illegal and unenforceable and that frontline employees who […]
A member of parliament from the New Democratic Party is introducing a motion to convert the Canada Emergency Response Benefit into a guaranteed livable basic income. The motion from Leah Gazan, the representative for Winnipeg Centre, is calling on the government to introduce legislation and work with provincial and territorial governments and Indigenous peoples to […]
Canada’s official fiscal watchdog says the federal wage subsidy program may cost $14 billion less than the government predicted. A new report by Parliamentary Budget Office analyst Ben Segel-Brown estimated subsidizing wages for companies during the COVID-19 pandemic will cost $67.9 billion through the end of December. Finance Minister Bill Morneau estimated in his July […]
A former Starbucks Canada employee is suing the company for unpaid overtime for himself and other store managers. Trevor Hopman is the lead plaintiff in a proposed class action that claims Starbucks was wrong to class store managers as exempt from overtime pay for work in excess of 44 hours per week. He worked for […]
The federal government is setting a temporary minimum unemployment rate of 13.1 per cent for all employment insurance economic regions across Canada. The move, which took effect Aug. 9, is meant to recognize the ongoing unpredictability of the pandemic on the country’s labour market. The regional unemployment rate is part of the calculation that determines how many […]
British Columbia’s new health tax will cost the average worker nearly $3,000 a year in foregone wages, according to a new study released by the Fraser Institute. The health tax, which began gradually phasing out B.C.’s medical services plan premiums in January 2019, applies to employers with annual payrolls of $500,000 or more. In a […]
The federal government is seeking applicants for the positions of commissioner for employers and commissioner for workers in its Canada Employment Insurance Commission. The commissioners will be responsible for representing the views and positions of organizations and individuals that are clients of, or affected by, Employment and Social Development Canada’s programs and services, particularly the […]
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the government plans to move out-of-work Canadians into the employment insurance system and provide parallel support for millions set to exhaust emergency pandemic aid who don’t have EI to fall back on. The $80-billion Canada Emergency Response Benefit is set to wind down over the coming weeks, with those who […]