Wage Earner Protection Program Act

Marginal note:Definitions

• 2 (1) The following definitions apply in this Act.

  eligible wages

  eligible wages means

  • (a) wages other than termination pay and severance pay that were earned during the longer of the following periods:

    • (i) the six-month period ending on the date of the bankruptcy or the first day on which there was a receiver in relation to the former employer, and

    • (ii) the period beginning on the day that is six months before the day on which a proposal under Division I of Part III of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act is filed by or in respect of the employer or the day on which proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act are commenced and ending on the date of the bankruptcy or the first day on which there was a receiver in relation to the former employer; and

  • (b) termination pay and severance pay that relate to employment that ended during the period referred to in paragraph (a). (salaire admissible)

  wages

  wages includes salaries, commissions, compensation for services rendered, vacation pay, termination pay, severance pay and any other amounts prescribed by regulation. (salaire)

• Marginal note:Employers subject to a receivership

  (2) For the purposes of this Act, an employer is subject to a receivership when any property of the employer is under the possession or control of a receiver.

• Marginal note:Meaning of receiver

  (3) In this Act, receiver means a receiver within the meaning of subsection 243(2) of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.

• Marginal note:Words and expressions

  (4) Unless otherwise provided, words and expressions used in this Act have the same meaning as in the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.

• Marginal note:Related persons

  (5) Despite subsection 4(5) of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act,

  • (a) for the purposes of paragraph 6(d), an individual is considered to deal at arm’s length with a related person if the Minister is satisfied that, having regard to the circumstances — including the terms and conditions of the individual’s employment with the former employer, their remuneration and the duration, nature and importance of the work performed for the former employer — it is reasonable to conclude that the individual would have entered into a substantially similar contract of employment with the former employer if they had been dealing with each other at arm’s length; and

  • (b) for the purposes of subsection 21(4), individuals who are related to each other are, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, deemed not to deal with each other at arm’s length while so related.