The Federal Government announced two new measures to provide some relief to businesses and workers who have been impacted by the ongoing trade tensions with the United States and to support those affected by tariffs.
To support workers, the new government announced it will:
- Temporarily waive the one-week employment insurance (EI) waiting period.
- Suspend rules around separation for a six-month period, so workers don’t have to exhaust severance pay before collecting EI.
- Make it easier to access EI by increasing regional unemployment rate percentages.
This announcement signals the government’s intention to introduce new temporary employment insurance (EI) measures to support Canadian workers whose jobs are impacted by the current economic uncertainty.
CTA and others had warned that any worker support initiatives could not include those operating under the worker misclassification and tax abuse scheme in trucking known as Driver Inc.
“As we can see in this announcement, this new relief for workers justifiably appears to be only applicable to regular payroll employees and would exclude those involved in Driver Inc., who typically don’t comply with the tax obligations all other workers do and, specifically, have not been paying the EI premiums to qualify for this coverage,” says CTA president Stephen Laskowski.
To support businesses, the new government will:
- Defer corporate income tax payments and GST/HST remittances from April 2 to June 30, 2025.
- Deploy a new financing facility for businesses.
- Provide more funding to Canada’s regional development agencies, so they can better support businesses.
While details remain sparse now, including whether or not these measures are open to select businesses or all industries without restriction, CTA is working to confirm additional details with the federal government. CTA will update members and the provincial associations as more information becomes available.
To view the Government’s full message click here. To View CRA’s available details, click here.
(source: CTA)