Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit Act (S.C. 2021, c. 26, s. 5)

Marginal note:Eligibility

• 4 (1) A person is eligible for a lockdown benefit for any week that falls within the period beginning on October 24, 2021 and ending on May 7, 2022 and within a benefit period if

  • (a) they have a valid Social Insurance Number;

  • (b) they were at least 15 years of age on the first day of the week;

  • (c) they were resident and present in Canada during the week;

  • (d) in the case of an application made in respect of a week beginning in 2021, they had, for 2020 or in the 12-month period preceding the day on which they make the application, a total income of at least $5,000 from the following sources:

    • (i) employment,

    • (ii) self-employment,

    • (iii) benefits to which they were entitled under the Canada Emergency Response Benefit Act or the Canada Recovery Benefits Act that were paid to them,

    • (iv) benefits, as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Employment Insurance Act, paid to them under that Act,

    • (v) allowances, money or other benefits paid to them under a provincial plan because of pregnancy or in respect of the care by them of one or more of their newborn children or one or more children placed with them for the purpose of adoption, and

    • (vi) any other source of income that is prescribed by regulation;

  • (e) in the case of an application made in respect of a week beginning in 2022, they had, for 2020 or for 2021 or in the 12-month period preceding the day on which they make the application, a total income of at least $5,000 from the sources referred to in subparagraphs (d)(i) to (vi);

  • (f) for reasons related to measures imposed by a lockdown order that applies in a lockdown region,

    • (i) they lost their employment in the period that begins on the first day on which the measures referred to in subsection 3(2) began to apply in the lockdown region and that ends on the expiry of the week and they were unemployed during the week,

    • (ii) they were unable, during the week, to perform the work that they normally performed as a self-employed person immediately before those measures began to apply in the lockdown region, or

    • (iii) if they were employed during the week or they performed self-employment work during the week, they had a reduction of at least 50% in their average weekly employment income or self-employment income for the week relative to

      • (A) in the case of an application made in respect of a week beginning in 2021, their total average weekly employment income and self-employment income for 2020 or in the 12-month period preceding the day on which they make the application, and

      • (B) in the case of an application made in respect of a week beginning in 2022, their total average weekly employment income and self-employment income for 2020 or for 2021 or in the 12-month period preceding the day on which they make the application;

  • (g) no income referred to in any of the following subparagraphs was paid or was payable to them in respect of the week:

    • (i) allowances, money or other benefits paid to them under a provincial plan because of pregnancy or in respect of the care by them of one or more of their newborn children or one or more children placed with them for the purpose of adoption,

    • (ii) a Canada recovery sickness benefit or a Canada recovery caregiving benefit under the Canada Recovery Benefits Act,

    • (iii) benefits, as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Employment Insurance Act, and

    • (iv) any other income that is prescribed by regulation;

  • (h) during the period beginning on the first day on which the measures referred to in subsection 3(2) began to apply in the lockdown region and ending on the expiry of the week, they have not quit their employment or voluntarily ceased to work, unless it was reasonable to do so, and they have not

    • (i) failed to return to their employment when it was reasonable to do so, if their employer had made a request,

    • (ii) failed to resume self-employment when it was reasonable to do so, or

    • (iii) declined a reasonable offer to work in respect of work that would have started during the week;

  • (i) they were not, at any time during the week, required to quarantine or isolate themselves under any order made under the Quarantine Act as a result of entering into Canada or

    • (i) if they were required to do so at any time during the week, the only reason for their having been outside Canada was to

      • (A) receive a medical treatment that has been certified by a medical practitioner to be necessary, or

      • (B) accompany a person who has been certified by a medical practitioner to be incapable of travelling without the assistance of an attendant and whose only reason for having been outside Canada was to receive a medical treatment that has been certified by a medical practitioner to be necessary, or

    • (ii) if, as a result of entering into Canada, they were required to isolate themselves under such an order at any time during the week, they are a person to whom the requirement to quarantine themselves under the order would not have applied had they not been required to isolate themselves; and

  • (j) they have filed a return of income in respect of the 2020 taxation year.

• Marginal note:Income from self-employment

  (2) For the purpose of paragraphs (1)(d) to (f), income from self-employment is revenue from the self-employment less expenses incurred to earn that revenue.

• Marginal note:COVID-19 vaccination — paragraph (1)(f)

  (3) Despite paragraph (1)(f), a person is not eligible for a lockdown benefit if they lost their employment, were unable to perform self-employment work or had a reduction in income because they refused to comply with a requirement to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

• Marginal note:COVID-19 vaccination — paragraph (1)(h)

  (4) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(h), the refusal by a person to comply with a requirement to be vaccinated against COVID-19 is not a reasonable excuse to have quit their employment or voluntarily ceased to work or to have done anything referred to in subparagraphs (1)(h)(i) to (iii).

• Marginal note:2021 return of income

  (5) Despite subsection (1), a person who is paid a lockdown benefit in respect of a week beginning in 2021 who does not file a return of income for the 2021 taxation year by December 31, 2022 is deemed not to have been entitled to the lockdown benefit in respect of the week.

• Marginal note:2021 and 2022 returns of income

  (6) Despite subsection (1), a person who is paid a lockdown benefit in respect of a week beginning in 2022 who does not file a return of income for the 2021 and 2022 taxation years by December 31, 2023 is deemed not to have been entitled to the lockdown benefit in respect of that week.