More Money Podcast - Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) - Money Minute with Jessica Moorhouse

Episode Date: April 10, 2020

This Monday, April 6, applications opened up to anyone eligible for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB). Even though the application process is incredibly simple and easy, finding out if you're eligible...not so much. I go through exactly how to find out if you're eligible for the $2,000/month benefit in this episode. Important Resources Apply for CERB: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/cerb-application.html FAQs about CERB: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/cerb-application/questions.html Scenarios for Eligibility: https://toronto.citynews.ca/2020/04/01/faq-canada-emergency-response-benefit/ Info on COVID-19 Economic Response Plan: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/economic-response-plan.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, and welcome back to another Money Minute episode with yours truly. For this episode, I want to dive deep into something that has been on everyone's mind in Canada, which is the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, CRB, or as I like to call it, CERB. I recently, literally just a few days ago, put out a video about it, explaining kind of how, what it is, how it works, how to find out if you're eligible. I have so many views and comments on that video in just a matter of days. So clearly a lot of people have a lot of questions and want to know whether they should apply. Can they apply? How it all works. So I want to kind of dive into it for this episode. Now, the reason I'm putting this out a little bit later than usual, because typically I kind of

release my episodes to go up at like 1 a.m. Eastern time, just so then when you wake up the morning, it's there. I wanted to make sure that there was nothing new to share since this morning's announcement by the prime minister and watched it. He didn't really talk too much about Curb. They did, of course, make a few updates to some of the webpages in the past few days. So I am going to give you the most updated information as of today, April 10th. But please, as the days and weeks go by, just make sure to go to those important webpages. I'm going to include them in the description of this podcast episode, wherever you're listening. I'm also including those links in the YouTube

video I have on my YouTube channel. Look at those links, read the criteria carefully so you have the most up-to-date information. Because again, this is a podcast. Typically, I never do episodes about things that are in real time because things update and I can't update an episode. So just giving you that little fair warning. Also, as you know, I don't work for the government. I don't work for their CRA. I'm just trying to share some information and hopefully make things a little bit more clear because, man, there's some confusion. A lot of people have no idea what's going on. So let's dive in, shall we? Okay. So the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, CERB or CERB as I like to call it, supports Canadians by providing financial support to employed and self-employed Canadians who are

directly affected by COVID-19. So it provides a payment of $2,000 for a four week period, which is the same as $500 a week for up to 16 weeks. And after you apply, you should get your payment, your first payment within about three business days. If you have signed up for a direct deposit, if you haven't, and you're expecting to get a check, that'll take about 10 business days. So please just make sure you have a direct deposit signed up. Also, there's been so many questions about, oh, what about EI? There's a lot of confusion. So what it states on their website is do not apply for the CERB if you have already applied for EI. If you have not already applied for EI, you can apply for CERB. You can do this with the CRA or with Service Canada, but not both. So many people on my YouTube

channel or the video they put out are sharing, oh, I applied for both because I didn't know if I was going to be approved for EI. Now I applied for curb. They do not want you to do that. So make sure to check out just the website. It has more details. You can't get both because it looks like you're double dipping. You can't do that. If you applied for EI and get that benefit and then also applied for curb and get that benefit, you're required to pay back that amount that you got from curb because you were not entitled to both. So just so you know, and how you would repay that because you cannot cancel your curb application. Unfortunately, there's no cancel button is you have to contact your financial institution, whoever you have your direct deposit set up and be like, hey, how do I repay this?

Because I'm not actually entitled to it. And I want to pay it back because I shouldn't have it. Okay. So moving right along, you may be wondering, okay, how do I know if I am eligible? So let me share what it says on their website. So to be eligible, you must be meeting the following requirements. You did not apply for nor receive curb or EI benefits from Service Canada for the same eligibility period. It really wants to make sure that you're not just applying and getting more money than you are entitled to. You have not quit your job voluntarily. I've seen a lot of comments also, and even tweets about people saying that, but I quit my job because maybe they don't want to get the virus or whatever the case. Well, it states pretty clearly, if you quit your job voluntarily, you are not eligible.

You must reside in Canada. Now, from what I've seen online too, it does not mean you necessarily have to be, you know, born in Canada or, you know, a resident. You have to reside. I think they've left that language pretty loose. So my interpretation of what I've also seen online is just, you have to currently live in Canada. And I've also seen a lot of questions about, I do live in Canada, but I'm currently in another country and I'm trying to get back to Canada, but because of travel restrictions, I cannot get back to Canada. Can I get curb? I have found some resources online that say, yes, you should be eligible. But again, if you are not clear, and again, I'm not giving you advice, giving you my opinion based on what

I've seen online, check up with the CRA and see what they have to say. But from what I've seen, yes, you should be eligible. You must be 15 years old or more when you apply. You must have earned a minimum of $5,000 in income in the last 12 months or in 2019 from one or more of the following sources, employment income, self-employment income, provincial or federal benefits related to maternity or paternity leave. Next, for your first curb application, you have stopped or will stop working due to reasons related to COVID-19. And for at least 14 days in a row during the period you are applying for, you will not receive employment income, self-employment income, or provincial or federal benefits related to maternity or paternity leave. Next, for your subsequent curb applications. require, you know, that several other periods of curb benefits to you because you're still not

working. Here is some of the guidelines for your subsequent curb applications. You continue to not work due to reasons related to COVID-19. For the four-week period you are applying for, you will not receive employment income, self-employment income, or provincial or federal benefits related to maternity or paternity leave. So what that means is if you're going to apply for subsequent curb payments, you can earn $0, which I know sucks. I know they did kind of discuss some things in one of the announcements this week. It does not look like it is formal yet. So again, this is why I'm really pushing you to check the links to see if they've made any updates. But they mentioned that maybe if you're working, but they've cut your hours to just like 10 hours per week or something like that, you should be eligible. Again, that is not formal

yet, but they may be pushing that through. But if you're self-employed like myself, and you do earn like $200, you cannot apply for Curb, which would entitle you to $2,000. I know it sucks, but I'm just relaying the information that is available. Now, in terms of eligibility periods, and I feel like there's a lot of confusion with this too, so let me hopefully break it down a little bit. So it says eligibility periods are fixed into four-week periods. If your situation continues, you can reapply for curb for multiple four week periods to a maximum of 16 weeks, which is a maximum of four periods. Now there are going to be actually seven four week period cycles.

So there's basically seven different periods you can apply for, but you can only apply for four. Does that make sense? Hopefully. Again, this is on the website, but basically the period dates are, you know, first period is March 15th to April 11th, second period, April 12th to May 9th, third period, May 10th to June 6th, fourth period, June 7th to July 4th, fifth period, July 5th to August 1st, sixth period, August 2nd to August 29th, and seventh period, August 30th to September 26th. And it also specifies if you start working again after you get a curb payment and then stop working, you need to reapply for the curb. When

you reapply, you must confirm that for at least 14 days in a row during the period you were applying for, you will not receive employment income, self-employment income, provincial or federal benefits related to maternity or paternity leave. I know this is why it is confusing, but honestly, I feel like if you really write down your situation and then go through this criteria, it will kind of become clear. Because honestly, as I've said, I've been getting a ton of comments on my video, and I can kind of look at them. And pretty much if you're like, I'm not sure if I qualify, there's a good chance most likely you don't. And that's why you're having a hard time because you're trying to fit your situation into this criteria. And you do have to fit into all of that criteria, not just one, but not the other.

That's why a lot of people are frustrated because a lot of people are falling through the cracks and are not eligible, and I understand your frustration. It does suck, but again, I didn't make this up. I don't work for the government. I'm just telling you how it is. Okay, just a few more things. So when you are going to apply, they don't want you to overload the website, which is why they have a set schedule for who can apply based on the month that they were born. So if you were born January, February, March, you can apply on Mondays, April, May, June, that's Tuesdays, July, August, or September, Wednesdays, October, November, December, Thursdays, and anyone can apply on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Another important thing to note is these payments, this $2,000 curb payment

is taxable. It is not tax-free. It is something that you have to make sure that you save a portion of it to pay come income tax time. And I think a lot of people are getting confused by that because if you're an employee, your employer withholds some of your pay and then pays the government on your rehab for taxes. Yeah, this benefit, they're not withholding anything at source. So it is on you to make sure that you save a portion of that for taxes. Now, I'm sure you are going to have more questions and you probably have a particular situation. You're like, am I eligible? Well, come on down to my working video and join the hundreds of other people that have been asking me questions. I'll try my best to kind of direct you to the information that you need to help you figure out if you are eligible. But of course, again,

don't work for the government. So make sure to contact the CRA to find out if you are eligible. So it says you can find answers to common questions about this at their automated helpline at 1-833-966-2099. Or to speak to an agent about Curb or your CRA My Account, you have to go to 1-800-959-8281. So hopefully you found this episode helpful. It may also make you feel very frustrated because you realize, I can't get this benefit, but I could really use that $2,000 because there's a lot of cases where you aren't earning any money, but you're still somehow not eligible for this benefit. I get it. I think it's not fair that not everyone can get this. I'm sure, and they have discussed this at, Trudeau has definitely talked about this in other press conferences. They're doing their

best, and I'm sure they are. They whipped this together in just a matter of weeks. And I'm sure they will open it up to more people or create another benefit for people that don't, uh, can't get this. We'll see. We'll, we'll just have to hold on to hope and see what happens, but, um, just stay strong out there. I know it's still, we're all going through it and it's not a super exciting, fun time. If there's anything I can do to help you, you know, tweet me, DM me on Instagram, send me an email. Uh, let me know if you have any questions about anything and I'll be happy to try my best to help you. And of course, I'm going to be creating more podcast episodes and videos about what's going on. So let me know what you want me to do, you know, podcast episodes or videos on because I'm here and I'm going to be creating a lot of content because I'm stuck at

home just like the rest of us. So that is really it for me. I hope you enjoyed this episode. I will see you back here next Wednesday for a fresh new episode of the Momany Podcast. Thanks so much for listening and have a great, I mean, as great as you can Easter weekend. This podcast is distributed by the Women in Media Podcast Network. Find out more at womeninmedia.network.