Canada expanding wage subsidy for businesses as jobless claims soar

(C) Reuters. FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attends a news conference in Ottawa

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada said on Wednesday it would expand an emergency wage subsidy program to help more businesses deal with the coronavirus outbreak, while jobless claims soared beyond 4 million.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said firms would only have to show their year-on-year revenues had dropped by 15% in March, down from a 30% cap set earlier, to be eligible to claim a 75% wage subsidy for their employees.

“Our government understands not all businesses operate the same way and that is why we are making changes to include as many of you as possible,” he told a daily briefing.

Officials said a total of 4.26 million people had applied for all forms of emergency unemployment since March 15. Canada’s workforce is just over 20 million strong, suggesting the jobless rate will jump to 25% from the current 5.6%.

Statistics Canada is due to release the March employment data on Thursday and Trudeau said “it’s going to be a hard day for the country.”

Canada’s coronavirus death toll rose to 401 from 345 on Tuesday, the public health agency said. The total number of cases was 18,447, compared with 17,063 a day earlier.