The CERB­ will give $500 a week to workers who have stopped working because of COVID-19. You only have time for apply until December 2, 2020.

The Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) program is getting over. It was launched in March 2020 in order to help people who stopped working because of COVID-19 by giving them money. The deadline for getting CERB payments is October 3, 2020.

It means if you are eligible for CERB, you can receive $2,000 for a month.

Who is eligible?

This benefit is available for:

• Residing in Canada, workers who are at least 15 years old;
• Who have quitted working because of COVID-19 are eligible for sickness benefits or Employment Insurance regular or have run out their Employment Insurance regular benefits or Employment Insurance fishing benefits from December 29, 2019 to October 3, 2020;
• Who had employment /self-employment income (at least $5,000) in 2019 or in the 12 months before to the date of their application;
• Who have not quitted their job voluntarily.

While submitting your first claim, you cannot have earned more than $1,000 in employment (and) or self-employment income for 14 or more continuous days within the four-week benefit period of your claim.

What if I find out later that I wasn’t eligible for CERB?

Due to fast process of CERB, the government said that at a later date they will be reviewing applications more closely. And if they decide that you did not qualify for CERB, you have to pay the money back. The government has suggested that they might use the tax system to sort out incorrect payments by next year. The government isn’t allowed to charge interest on any money you have to pay back. This means that you should not apply for the CERB if you are not sure you qualify.

Then how to apply for that?

Statistics shows over 500,000 Canadians applied for Employment Insurance just in a week! And this number is increasing.

When you figured out you are eligible for CERB, create a CRA account, you can register for a CRA account here.

You can click on create a new account, or sign-in through a partner as you choose. You need to enter your information such as, date of birth, social insurance number, current postal code and an amount on your last tax return.

What should I do after creating CRA account?

After creating your account, during your time slot, login to your CRA account.

Then go to COVID-19 part: Canada Emergency Response Benefit in the alert banner (which is at the top of the page).

Select the period you want to apply, explain that you qualify for the benefit, and confirm that the CRA has the correct information.

If you did all the steps You can expect the money within 3 business days if you’re receiving your payment by direct deposit, and within 10 business days if you’re receiving your payment by cheque.

You need to re-apply CERB every 4 weeks if your situation continues.

*Please be noted that these benefits are taxable and you need to report all payments received on next year’s tax filing.