Government economic response to COVID-19

To keep you informed of recent developments in our federal and provincial/territorial governments’ economic response to COVID-19, we will be providing you updates of key government announcements that may impact you or your business.

Announcements:

January 21, 2021 update

Our updates are provided on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and on days when there are significant announcements. Information is accurate as at 3:00 p.m. EST. Information may be affected by subsequent announcements.

Links to government announcements follow at the end of the update.

Tax updates:

Canada - Changes to deductions from government income: The federal Department of Finance published legislative proposals which, if implemented, would temporarily allow Employment Insurance (EI) recipients to deduct eligible expenses against their EI income for the purpose of determining their eligibility for the Child Care Expense Deduction and Disability Supports Deduction for 2020 and 2021 only. This change is intended to provide the same treatment to recipients of EI that is provided to recipients of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and other federal COVID‑19 benefits.

Other updates:

Quebec - Extension of social assistance relief measures: The Quebec government is extending the following relief, which was originally scheduled to expire on January 31, 2021, until March 31, 2021: (i) the moratorium on the recovery of overpayments to social assistance recipients who also received federal support; (ii) the extension, without need for a further evaluation, of determinations of “severely limited capacity for employment” and “temporarily limited capacity”; and (iii) the exclusion of monetary gifts above the $100 threshold in computing a claimant’s income.