Ottawa has extended the Canada Emergency Response Benefit by another four weeks.
Officials announced Thursday afternoon that after that the 4 million Canadians still on CERB will be transitioned to either a new “simplified” Employment Insurance system, or the new Canada Recovery Benefit as of September 27th.
They say the government is also creating a new sickness benefit and a caregiver benefit.
It’s estimated the total cost of the extension to CERB, the changes to employment insurance, and the three new benefits will be approximately $37-billion.
The changes to Employment Insurance and the new programs will be put in place for one year.
It was also announced that Employment Insurance benefits will be frozen for two years.
