Premier Brian Pallister is voicing his concerns about the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), and calling on the federal government to redesign the program.
Pallister says the CERB is “increasingly acting as a work disincentive to some Canadians, as it penalizes them financially for returning to work full time,” and adds that “changing CERB so returning workers can keep some of this benefit — rather than lose it all at once — would help both businesses and workers.”
The province is still accepting applications for the Manitoba Job Restart Program, providing direct payments of up to $2,000 in financial support to those Manitobans who voluntarily came off CERB and took full-time work.
The Manitoba premier suggests the federal government consider a phased reduction of CERB as workers returned to their previous or new jobs, rather than lose the full benefit all at once.
Pallister has written all premiers urging them to encourage the federal government to make changes to the CERB program and to remove disincentives to work — and encourage Canadians to transition back to their jobs with the support of an expanded Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS).
