Qualifying Canadians can start applying for CERB effective April 6, said Trudeau

#CERB; #COVID19; #EligibilityForStudents; #EI

Ottawa, Apr 5 (Canadian-Media): Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that effective Monday Apr 6, Canadians can begin applying for Canada emergency response benefit (CERB), which will provide people who lose their source of income due to COVID-19 about $2,000 a month for 16 weeks, media reports said.

Justin Trudeau. Image credit: Official site

Trudeau said that his government is also looking into measures to help people, including students, who are not covered by the program. 

Canadians who are eligible for employment insurance (EI) can apply for that coverage, and will receive CERB benefits for four months before they start receiving  EI benefits.

As of 6 a.m ET Monday, the public can start signing up for CERB, but to avoid overloading the portal should apply based on their birth month.

April 6 is devoted for applicants born in January through March, those born April through June can apply April 7, those born in July through Sep on April 8 and Canadians with birth months October through December can sign up on April 9.

Trudeau said Canadians can expect to receive payments within three to five days via direct deposit, or within 10 days by mail.

For students to be eligible implies that applicants must have been working and lost all income.

Trudeau government is considering other ways to employ them. 

It means a lot to us here at #dontforgetstudents to have MPs like @HMcPhersonMP doing everything they can to make sure that students and recent graduates are all eligible for the #CERB.

Thank you so much for your leadership. https://t.co/78vnHPrPkP

— Don't Forget Students-N'Oubliez Pas les Étudiants (@dontforgetstdns) April 6, 2020

Although about 60,000 temporary foreign workers who come to labour in the agricultural sector, planting, producing and harvesting had been exempted from travel ban by the  government to enter Canada, but they must quarantine for two weeks upon arrival. There also has been delays in the process to grant the necessary work visas due to the pandemic.

All these factors had led to the back log in the fields of agriculture, planting producing and harvesting and has effected the food sector of the country.

Trudeau said his government is looking for ways to absorb students and Canadians without any work to help fill some of the crucial roles in agricultural producers, our fisheries, and our agricultural transformers.

Conservative finance critic Pierre Poilievre said the government must find a way to enable people to qualify for the benefit, while still working reduced hours.

The government is also reaching out to people with specialized skills looking to help frontline workers. Health Canada is building an inventory of specialized volunteers that provinces and territories can draw on. These include people with the skills to track cases, trace contacts as well as collecting and reporting data.
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Full-time jobs to reservists in the Canadian Armed Forces are also being offered by the government, with the same pay and benefits as regular forces.