Trudeau to extend Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy through December

Still reeling from another massive corruption scandal, Justin Trudeau faced the press on Monday and announced an extension to the Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy through December.

The program, designed to subsidize companies' wages during the COVID-19 pandemic. The subsidy covers up to 75 perfect of wages.

Global reports that "As of July 6, the wage subsidy had paid out $18.01 billion to 252,370 companies in payroll help.The government’s fiscal and economic 'snapshot' last week boosted the budget of the wage subsidy program to $82.3 billion, in a sign of impending changes."

Trudeau has not yet disclosed how exactly the program will be retooled in terms of eligibility.

Trudeau isn’t saying today how the government will reshape the eligibility rules for the program that critics have said stop some employers from getting aid they need.The wage-subsidy program covers 75 per cent of wages, up to a weekly maximum of $847, for eligible companies and non-profits."

Finance Minister Bill Morneau said last week that Canadians would gradually shift from the $2,000-a-month CERB to the CEWS wage subsidy as businesses reopen and the virus threat continues to cool. Over one million fewer Canadians received the CERB in May.

"We need to reduce disincentives to growth," Morneau said last week. "We need to make sure the subsidy is appropriate for the challenges facing enterprises in actually rehiring and getting people back to work."