Ottawa, Canada (CU)_ The Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit took fire having awarded travelers returning from their holidays and other non-essential travel overseas, who went through quarantine, payments of up to CAD 1000 (USD 790) for being unable to report to work over the two-week quarantine period.
Minister of Employment Carla Qualtrough said in a statement issued on Saturday (2nd Jan) that “The Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit was never intended to incentivize or encourage Canadians to not follow public health or international travel guidelines. We continue to strongly urge all Canadians to avoid non-essential travel.”
“The purpose of the CRSB has always been to provide workers with a paid sick leave option where one might not be available through their employer, so that workers did not have to choose between going to work and putting food on the table.” she added.
Canadian citizens who undergo quarantine over the course of at least half of their work-week or are under isolation due to the virus. However, applicants will not be receiving payments if they have already received paid leave or payments under other government schemes.
Furthermore, additional criteria would be required to be met in order for the applicant to be granted a payment, this includes the possession of a valid Social Insurance Number (SIN), and a CAD 5000 earning capacity between 2019 and 2020 or the 12 months prior to the submission of the application.
Since September last year, the government has approved roughly 450,000 applications.
Leader of the New Democratic Party, Jagmeet Singh said that “Unless the government bans non-essential international travel, people will continue to leave. We need to make sure that they have all the tools to stay home when they come back.”
