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

Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit Act.

Definitions

Marginal note:Definitions

2 The following definitions apply in this Act.

benefit period

benefit period means the period set out in an order made under subsection 3(1). (période de prestations)

competent authority

competent authority means any entity lawfully entitled to impose public health measures, including

• (a) the Government of Canada;

• (b) the government of a province or territory;

• (c) a municipality;

• (d) a public health authority; and

• (e) a council, government or other entity that is authorized to act on behalf of an Indigenous group, community or people that holds rights recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. (autorité compétente)

COVID-19

COVID-19 means the coronavirus disease 2019. (COVID-19)

Her Majesty

Her Majesty means Her Majesty in right of Canada. (Sa Majesté)

lockdown benefit

lockdown benefit means a Canada worker lockdown benefit referred to in section 8. (prestation de confinement)

lockdown order

lockdown order means an order, regulation or other instrument made by a competent authority

• (a) imposing, in the region specified in the order, regulation or other instrument, for reasons related to COVID-19, among other measures,

  • (i) during the period beginning on December 19, 2021 and ending on March 12, 2022,

    • (A) the closure to the public of premises where persons carry out commercial activities or provide services, that are not essential to preserving life, health, public safety or basic societal functioning,

    • (B) restrictions reducing by at least 50% the maximum number of persons that can enter or occupy premises where persons carry out commercial activities or provide services whether essential or not essential to preserving life, health, public safety or basic societal functioning, or

    • (C) a requirement that persons stay at home except for reasons that are essential to preserving life, health, public safety or basic societal functioning, or

  • (ii) during any other period,

    • (A) the closure to the public of premises where persons carry out commercial activities or provide services that are not essential to preserving life, health, public safety or basic societal functioning, or

    • (B) a requirement that persons stay at home except for reasons that are essential to preserving life, health, public safety or basic societal functioning. (ordre de confinement)

lockdown region

lockdown region means the region designated as a lockdown region in an order made under subsection 3(1). (région confinée)

medical practitioner

medical practitioner means a person who is entitled to practise medicine under the laws of a province. (médecin)

Minister

Minister means the Minister of Employment and Social Development. (ministre)

return of income

return of income means a return of income filed or required to be filed under Part I of the Income Tax Act in respect of a taxation year, other than a return of income filed under subsection 70(2) or 104(23), paragraph 128(2)(e) or subsection 150(4) of that Act. (déclaration de revenu)

week

week means the period of seven consecutive days beginning on and including Sunday. (semaine)

PART 1Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit

Marginal note:Designation of region

• 3 (1) The Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister, may, for the purposes of this Act, designate by order, for the period set out in the order, any region in Canada as a lockdown region.

• Marginal note:Recommendation

  (2) The Minister may make a recommendation only if the Minister is of the opinion that it is in the public interest to do so and that measures referred to in subparagraphs (a)(i) and (ii) of the definition lockdown order in section 2 that are set out in one or more lockdown orders apply in respect of a region for a period of at least 14 consecutive days or, if a lower number of days is fixed by regulation, that lower number of consecutive days.

• Marginal note:Period

  (3) The period referred to in subsection (1) must

  • (a) begin on the Sunday of the week in which the measures referred to in subsection (2) begin to apply in the lockdown region, and

  • (b) end on the Saturday of the week in which those measures cease to apply in the lockdown region.

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.