10.6092/issn.1561-8048/10843
Canadian governments have responded to COVID-19 in a number of ways. The federal government has responded primarily in the form of a massive stimulus package that includes: (1) the CanadianEmergency Response Benefit, which provides $500 per week to qualified workers who lose income due to COVID-19; and (2) the Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidyprogram, which covers up to 75 percent of wages for eligible private sector employers. The provinces have responded principally by introducing extended job protected leave entitlements to protect the jobs of employees forced to stop working due to COVID-19 related reasons.
application/pdf
1561-8048
10843
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en
David J. Doorey
Italian Labour Law e-Journal
Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS)
COVID-19 and Labour Law: Canada
Text.Serial.Journal
https://illej.unibo.it/
13
National Reports
2020-04-21
2020-04-21
2020-04-15
2020-09-15
ILLeJ
David J. Doorey
2020/04/21
10.6092/issn.1561-8048/10843
York University
1561-8048
1S
Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS)
en
COVID-19 and Labour Law: Canada
https://illej.unibo.it/article/download/10843/10756
13
COVID-19 and Labour Law: Canada                                                    Italian Labour Law e-Journal
David J. Doorey                                                                   Special Issue 1, Vol. 13 (2020)
ddoorey@yorku.ca                                                    Covid-19 and Labour Law. A Global Review
                                                                                                ISSN 1561-8048
                                                                 https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1561-8048/10843




                    COVID-19 and Labour Law: Canada
                           David J. Doorey*

                                                  Abstract

     Canadian governments have responded to COVID-19 in a number of ways. The federal
     government has responded primarily in the form of a massive stimulus package that includes:
     (1) the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit, which provides $500 per week to qualified workers
     who lose income due to COVID-19; and (2) the Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy program, which
     covers up to 75 percent of wages for eligible private sector employers. The provinces have
     responded principally by introducing extended job protected leave entitlements to protect the
     jobs of employees forced to stop working due to COVID-19 related reasons.



     Keywords: Covid-19; Employment Law; Income support; leaves of absence; Canadian
     Emergency Response Benefit (CERB); Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS).




 1. General Framework.

     Canada experienced its first COVID-19 related death on March 9, 2020 and by March 11
 more than 100 cases had been confirmed. However, for most Canadians, the threat became
 visible when on March 12, Prime Minister Trudeau went into self-isolation after his spouse
 tested positive for the virus. That same day, federal officials announced that between 30-
 70% of Canadians could become infected depending on how the country responded1. By
 March 13, schools were closed, large public gatherings had been suspended, an advisory had
 been issued for Canadians to avoid all non-essential travel outside of Canada, and the first
 province, Quebec, had declared a state of emergency. Most other Canadian provinces had
 declared states of emergencies by March 18, activating powers to regulate social distancing
 and to close non-essential businesses, among other powers.
     The Canadian border was closed to all non-essential travel by March 20 and within days
 non-essential businesses had been ordered to close. By the end of March, the provinces had
 introduced social distancing rules, sometimes first as recommendations and later as orders
 subject to sanctions2. On March 26, the federal government invoked the little used Quarantine
 Act to order people returning to Canada to self-isolate for 14 days. Over 1 million jobs were

 *
     Associate Professor of Labour Law, York University, Toronto, Canada.
 1-https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-between-30-and-70-per-cent-of-canadians-could-be-

 infected-with/
 2  Provinces listed essential businesses. For example, see Ontario’s list of essential businesses here:
 https://www.ontario.ca/page/list-essential-workplaces
    David J. Doorey                                                               Italian Labour Law e-Journal
                                                                                 Special Issue 1, Vol. 13 (2020)
                                                                    Covid-19 and Labour Law. A Global Review
                                                                                      Section: National Reports




lost in March and the unemployment rate increased by 2.2% to 7.8%3. As of April 20, there
had been 35,383 confirmed cases in Canada and 1,611 deaths from the COVID-19 virus4.


2. Regulatory Interventions to Support Affected Businesses and Workers.

    In Canada, the Constitutional division of powers is such that cooperation was required in
the public response to COVID-19. Jurisdiction over employment relations falls primarily
within provincial jurisdiction with the result that approximately 92% of Canadian employees
are governed by provincial labour standards, collective bargaining laws, and health and safety
legislation. The federal government has jurisdiction over employment relations relating to
the small percentage of workplaces falling within federal jurisdiction, and importantly, over
unemployment insurance, including insurance covering extended sick leaves.
    The federal government’s response has been primarily in the form of a huge stimulus
package to support employers and provide money to workers who have suffered a loss of
income due to COVID-19. The package costs in the range of CDN$82 billion dollars5. The
flagship program to assist workers was announced on March 18 and is called the Canadian
Emergency Response Benefit (CERB). CERB provides payments of $500 per week for up to 16
weeks to Canadian workers who earned at least $5000 from employment, self-employment,
or social benefits in the 12 months prior to their application, earned not more than $1000 in
the 4 week period prior to their application for CERB benefits, and lost income due to
COVID-19 related reasons6. The CERB benefits were later extended to cover seasonal
workers and other unemployed workers who would not otherwise have qualified but who
are unable to find work due to the economic shutdown caused by COVID-197. The federal
government also provided funding to provinces to enable low wage “essential workers” to
receive a wage top-up during COVID-198.
    In terms of support for employers, on April 11 the federal government introduced the
Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS), which funds up to 75% of wages of private sector
businesses that have lost 15% of gross revenues in March and 30% of revenues in April and
May 20209. The stated goal of CEWS was to encourage employers to retain employees on
their payrolls through COVID-19. On April 13, the government announced that foreign

3 https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/200409/dq200409a-eng.htm
4 See https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19.html
5-Summary of federal measures is available here: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/economic-

response-plan.html.
See also “Government of Canada’s Response to COVID-19 https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/covid.html
; See also CBC News, Trudeau unveils $82B COVID-19 emergency response package for Canadians business:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/economic-aid-package-coronavirus-1.5501037
6-For information on the CERB, see: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/cerb-application.html.

Other eligibility requirements include that the applicant “reside in Canada”, be age 15 or older, and not have
quit their job voluntarily.
7 There remains criticism that the CERB excludes people in need. See http://lawofwork.ca/how-the-canada-

emergency-response-benefit-is-failing-low-income-precarious-workers-and-how-it-can-be-fixed/
8-https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2020/04/expanding-access-to-the-canada-

emergency-response-benefit-and-proposing-a-new-wage-boost-for-essential-workers.html
9 See https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/economic-response-plan/wage-subsidy.html



https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1561-8048/10843                                                                   2
     David J. Doorey                                                                 Italian Labour Law e-Journal
                                                                                    Special Issue 1, Vol. 13 (2020)
                                                                       Covid-19 and Labour Law. A Global Review
                                                                                         Section: National Reports




temporary workers would be permitted to enter Canada but would be required to self-isolate
for 14 days, with pay and accommodation provided by their employers10.
   At the provincial level, the response to COVID-19 has focused on extending job-
protected statutory leave11. With few exceptions, labour standards statutes protect a very
limited (2-3 days per year in most cases) right of employees to take unpaid leave to deal with
temporary illness (sick leave) or to care for sick family members (family care leave). By mid
to late March, the provinces (and the federal government for federally regulated workers)
had introduced Bills that extended the length of job protected leave for workers unable to
work for COVID-19 related reasons (including caring for children not in school). These job-
protected leave provisions are intended to function in tandem with the federal sources of
funding so that Canadian workers unable to work due to COVID-19 have protected jobs to
return to, and a source of income in the interim.
   Canada does not have works councils or formalized “social dialogue”. Canadian unions
have participated primarily by lobbying governments for improved worker protections,
especially in the case of health and safety, by providing information, and by supporting the
right of their members to refuse unsafe work12. In some instances, governments have
overridden collective agreement provisions without union consent to create greater flexibility
for job assignments13.




10 The government provided $1500 per worker to each employer provided that they enforced the quarantine:
https://www.canada.ca/en/agriculture-agri-food/news/2020/04/keeping-canadians-and-workers-in-the-
food-supply-chain-safe.html
11 A few provincial governments (Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island,
12 In a number of instances, unionized “essential” workers (including nurses) have exercised their statutory right

to refuse unsafe work, backed by their unions See https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/covid-19-mask-
shortage-leads-to-work-refusals-by-nurses-at-londons-hospitals
13 See e.g. https://news.ontario.ca/mohltc/en/2020/03/ontario-takes-extraordinary-steps-to-ensure-health-

care-resources-are-available-to-contain-covid-19.html

https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1561-8048/10843                                                                      3
