The Government of Canada remains committed to supporting Canadian businesses in the face of the ongoing pandemic. With the recently announced Canada Recovery Hiring Program (CRHP), hard-hit businesses will be able to hire the workers they need to recover and grow as local economies reopen. The CRHP supports payroll as businesses grow, whether as a result of hiring staff, increasing shifts, or increasing overall pay.
Today, the Honourable Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of National Revenue, launched an online calculator to help eligible employers prepare their CRHP applications. This calculator integrates the new CRHP with the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS), automatically showing applicants which subsidy will provide them with more support, based on the information they enter.
Quick Facts about new Canada Recovery Hiring Program:
- The CRHP will be available to support eligible employers for all claim periods from June 6, 2021, to November 20, 2021.
- The CEWS is calculated based on eligible remuneration paid to eligible employees in a claim period. The CRHP is calculated based on incremental remuneration, which is the increase in the total eligible remuneration paid to active eligible employees in a claim period as compared to the total eligible remuneration paid to active eligible employees during the base period (March 14, 2021 to April 10, 2021, which is claim Period 14).
- The CRHP will provide a subsidy equal to the incremental remuneration for a claim period multiplied by a fixed subsidy rate. The subsidy rate is 50% for claim period 17 and will gradually decrease to 20% by claim period 22.
- Similar to the CEWS, the CRHP will have an automated validation system that will compare the claimant’s amounts against a number of key validations. Eligible employers whose applications pass through this automated validations process can expect to receive their payments by direct deposit within 3-5 business days.
The CRHP and the CEWS both support the payroll of eligible employers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, while the CEWS was meant to help eligible employers keep their employees on their payroll and help them rehire, the CRHP is designed to encourage businesses to (re)hire and grow as the economy recovers.
The CRHP and the CEWS are both based on four-week claim periods. From June 6, 2021 to September 25, 2021 (claim periods 17 to 20), the subsidies overlap so that, as CEWS rates gradually decline, eligible employers would still be able to receive support through the CRHP if they hire more workers or increase workers’ hours or wages. This will make it easier for eligible employers to hire new workers and do so at a pace that works best for them as different jurisdictions reopen their economies at different paces.
For the four overlapping claim periods, eligible employers can apply for either subsidy, based on whichever subsidy provides the higher amount of support. An eligible employer must claim the greater of the CRHP and the CEWS for a particular claim period, but not both. The CRHP web pages launched today include detailed information about eligibility requirements, how payment periods are structured, and how the CRHP is calculated.
Eligible employers will be able to apply for the CRHP as of July 7, 2021, when the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will open applications through My Business Account and Represent a Client. The CRA will begin to issue CRHP payments to eligible employers during the week of July 12, 2021.
The CRA recognizes and appreciates the important role that stakeholders play in providing feedback on how the CRHP will operate. We look forward to continuing to work closely with businesses, non-profits, and charities as well as their representative organizations as we deliver the new CRHP to Canadians.
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