Details of the CERB income-support, which provides payments of $500 per week for up to 28 weeks.
Latest Update - February 9th, 2021: Self-employed individuals whose net self-employment income was less than $5,000 will not be required to repay the CERB, as long as their gross self-employment income was at least $5,000 and they met all other eligibility criteria. If you have already voluntarily repaid the CERB, the CRA and Service Canada will return any repaid amounts. Additional details will be available in the coming weeks.
Transitioning to Simplified Employment Insurance (EI) and New Benefits
What happens now CERB has ended? As of September 27th, 2020 you may be eligible for Employment Insurance. If you are not eligible for EI, you may be eligible for these new benefits:
- Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB)
- Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB)
- Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB)
What is the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB)?
The Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) provides temporary income support to individuals who have stopped working due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides $500 per week for up to 24 weeks to eligible applicants. The program runs until October 3rd, 2020. You can apply until December 2nd, 2020.
You can apply online or by phone at 1-800-959-2019 or 1-800-959-2041. Both of these services are available 21 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Who is Eligible?
The CERB is available to all wage earners, including contract workers and self-employed individuals, regardless of their eligibility for Employment Insurance. The benefit is available to workers:
- Residing in Canada, who are at least 15 years old
- Who have stopped working because of reasons related to COVID-19 or are eligible for Employment Insurance regular or sickness benefits or have exhausted their Employment Insurance regular benefits or Employment Insurance fishing benefits between December 29, 2019 and October 3, 2020
- Who had employment and/or self-employment income of at least $5,000 in 2019 or in the 12 months prior to the date of their application
- Who have not quit their job voluntarily
Important Dates
The CERB ends when you’ve received 28 weeks of benefits or on October 3rd, 2020, whichever comes first. You can apply retroactively until December 2nd, 2020.
| Period 1 | March 15, 2020 to April 11, 2020 |
| Period 2 | April 12, 2020 to May 9, 2020 |
| Period 3 | May 10, 2020 to June 6, 2020 |
| Period 4 | June 7, 2020 to July 4, 2020 |
| Period 5 | July 5, 2020 to August 1, 2020 |
| Period 6 | August 2, 2020 to August 29, 2020 |
| Period 7 | August 30, 2020 to September 26, 2020 |
