Information regarding Canada's COVID-19 Economic Response Plan
(last updated March 27, 2020)
TAX FILING DEADLINES
Individuals
The deadline to file personal income tax and benefit returns will be deferred until June 1, 2020. The deadline to pay any balance due on your personal income tax return for 2019 has been extended from April 30, 2020, to September 1, 2020. You will not incur penalties or interest if your balance due is paid by September 1, 2020.
Self-employed individuals and their spouse or common-law partner
The deadline to file personal income tax and benefit returns for self-employed individuals or those who have a spouse or common-law partners who are self-employed, the deadline to pay any balance due has been extended from April 30, 2020, to September 1, 2020.
Businesses
Businesses with income tax amounts that become owing or due after March 18, 2020, and before September 1, 2020, have had deadlines extended to September 1, 2020. You will not incur penalties or interest if your balance due is paid by September 1, 2020.
SUPPORT FOR CANADIANS
Support for individuals who are sick, quarantined or forced to stay home to care for children:
Improved access to Employment Insurance by waiving the one-week waiting period (effective March 15, 2020), waiving the requirement to provide a medical certificate to access EI sickness benefits.
Introducing the Emergency Care Benefit providing up to $900 bi-weekly, for up to 15 weeks. This flat-payment benefit would be administered through the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and provide income support to:
- Workers, including the self-employed, who are quarantined or sick with COVID-19 but do not qualify for EI sickness benefits.
- Workers, including the self-employed, who are taking care of a family member who is sick with COVID-19, such as an elderly parent, but do not qualify for EI sickness benefits.
- Parents with children who require care or supervision due to school or daycare closures, and are unable to earn employment income, irrespective of whether they qualify for EI or not.
Application for the Benefit will be available in April 2020, and require Canadians to attest that they meet the eligibility requirements. They will need to re-attest every two weeks to reconfirm their eligibility. Canadians will select one of three channels to apply for the Benefit:
by accessing it on their CRA MyAccount secure portal;
by accessing it from their secure My Service Canada Account; or
by calling a toll free number equipped with an automated application process.
Introducing an Emergency Support Benefit for Canadians who lose their jobs or face reduced hours as a result of COVID’s impact. Delivered through the CRA to provide up to $5.0 billion in support to workers who are not eligible for EI and who are facing unemployment. Implementing the EI Work Sharing Program, which provides EI benefits to workers who agree to reduce their normal working hour as a result of developments beyond the control of their employers, by extending the eligibility of such agreements to 76 weeks, easing eligibility requirements, and streamlining the application process. This was announced by the Prime Minister on March 11, 2020.
GST Tax Credit: One-time special payment by early May 2020 to individuals eligible to receive the GST Credit. This will double the maximum annual GSTC payment amounts for the 2019-20 benefit year. The average boost to income for those benefitting from this measure will be close to $400 for single individuals and close to $600 for couples.
Canada Child Benefit: The Government is proposing to increase the maximum annual Canada Child Benefit (CCB) payment amounts, only for the 2019-20 benefit year, by $300 per child. The overall increase for families receiving CCB will be approximately $550 on average; these families will receive an extra $300 per child as part of their May payment.
New Indigenous Community Support Fund: The government is providing $305 million to address immediate needs in First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Nation communities.
Student Loans: The government is placing a six-month interest-free moratorium on the repayment of Canada Student Loans for all individuals currently in the process of repaying these loans.
Registered Retirement Income Funds (RRIFs) and Registered Pension Plan (RPP): The government is reducing required minimum withdrawals from Registered Retirement Income Funds (RRIFs) by 25% for 2020, in recognition of volatile market conditions and their impact on many seniors’ retirement savings. This will provide flexibility to seniors that are concerned that they may be required to liquidate their RRIF assets to meet minimum withdrawal requirements. Similar rules would apply to individuals receiving variable benefit payments under a defined contribution Registered Pension Plan.
Reaching Home Initiative: The government is providing the Reaching Home initiative with $157.5 million to continue to support people experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19 outbreak. The funding could be used for a range of needs such as purchasing beds and physical barriers for social distancing and securing accommodation to reduce overcrowding in shelters.
Women's Shelters and Sexual Assault Centres: The government is supporting women and children fleeing violence, by providing up to $50 million to women’s shelters and sexual assault centers to help with their capacity to manage or prevent an outbreak in their facilities. This includes funding for facilities in Indigenous communities.
Support for Businesses:
Helping businesses keep their workers: To support businesses that are facing revenue losses and to help prevent lay-offs, the government is proposing to provide eligible small employers a temporary wage subsidy for a period of three months. The subsidy will be equal to 10% of remuneration paid during that period, up to a maximum subsidy of $1,375 per employee and $25,000 per employer. Businesses will be able to benefit immediately from this support by reducing their remittances of income tax withheld on their employees’ remuneration. Employers benefiting from this measure will include corporations eligible for the small business deduction, as well as non-profit organizations and charities. (As of March 27, 2020, an announcement increased the subsidy to 75%)
