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The federal government has, as of April 6, started accepting applications for the new Canada Emergency Response Benefit for workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
CERB pays $2,000 every four weeks for up to four months to workers who have lost all of their income as a result of COVID-19. The benefit is open both to Canadians who qualify for employment insurance (EI) and those who don’t, including employees who don’t have enough work hours to meet EI requirements and the self-employed.
A statement from the minister of national revenue’s office said that a total of 3.18 million applications were received as of 3 p.m. ET, and that the Canada Revenue Agency was processing 1,000 applications per minute on average.