Home WebMail Saturday, November 2, 2024, 08:40 AM | Calgary | -3.9°C | Regions Advertise Login | Our platform is in maintenance mode. Some URLs may not be available. |
Posted: 2020-04-18T04:16:41Z | Updated: 2020-05-01T19:42:53Z

UPDATE: The federal government has addressed some of the concerns raised in this story. You can find information on its new student benefit here and expanded CERB eligibility rules for self-employed Canadians here .

OTTAWA Canadians who dont qualify for any government programs designed to address the hardship of coronavirus stay-at-home orders should wait for a new fix, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday.

Speaking to the nation, Trudeau said those who are left out of the billions of dollars of assistance the government has already announced and who are having troubling making ends meet should stand by for changes rather than apply for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) for which they are ineligible.

We expect people to apply for the programs for which they qualify, and we are therefore working to make sure were expanding the qualifications so that people who need the help will get it, the prime minister said during his daily press conference outside his home.

The government has tried to move quickly and broadly with its COVID-19 relief, knowing that some people would fall through the gaps, Trudeau said. Almost every day, he noted, the government has announced tweaks and expansions to its proposals.

We are continuing to listen to Canadians who are expressing that they are not getting the help they need, and we are constantly looking for ways to help them.

Aylish Tate, who lives in London, Ont., hopes the prime minister is listening to people like her.