Who is an eligible employer: Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS)
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Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS)
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- Who is an eligible employer: Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS)
- Determine your eligible employees: Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS)
- Calculate your subsidy amount: Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS)
- How to apply: Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS)
- After you apply: Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS)
- Contact us about CEWS: Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS)
Who is an eligible employer
To be eligible to receive the wage subsidy, you must:
- be an eligible employer
- have experienced an eligible reduction in revenue, and
- have had a CRA payroll account on March 15, 2020
On this page
Types of eligible employers
Eligible employers include:
- individuals (including trusts)
- corporations that are not exempt from income tax (Part I of the Income Tax Act)
- the following persons that are exempt from income tax (Part I of the Income Tax Act):
- non-profit organizations
- agricultural organizations
- boards of trade
- chambers of commerce
- non-profit corporations for scientific research and experimental development
- labour organizations or societies
- benevolent or fraternal benefit societies or orders
- registered charities
- certain Indigenous government-owned corporations that carry on a business
- partnerships consisting of eligible employers and certain Indigenous governments
- registered Canadian amateur athletic associations
- registered journalism organizations
- private schools or private colleges, and
- partnerships consisting of eligible employers (including partnerships where at least 50% of the interests in the partnership are held by eligible employers)
Public institutions are not eligible for the subsidy. This includes municipalities and local governments, Crown corporations, public universities, colleges and schools, and hospitals.
Read more about who is an eligible employer
What is an eligible revenue reduction
You must determine if your reduced revenue makes you eligible to apply for the wage subsidy in a particular period.
If you determine that you qualify for the CEWS for one claim period, you will automatically qualify for the following claim period.
Calculate your reduction by comparing your eligible revenue for the starting month of the claim period with your baseline revenue. Your baseline revenue is either:
- the revenue you earned in the corresponding month in 2019, or
- the average of the revenue you earned in January and February, 2020
You must choose one of these baseline revenue options for your method of comparison and will not be able to change it for your calculations for any other periods.
Claim periods
| Claim period | Start and end dates | Baseline revenue | Claim period revenue |
Required reduction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | March 15 to April 11, 2020 |
|
March 2020 | 15% |
| 2 | April 12 to May 9, 2020 |
|
April 2020 | 30% |
| 3 | May 10 to June 6, 2020 |
|
May 2020 | 30% |
| 4 | June 7 to July 4, 2020 |
|
June 2020 | 30% |
Eligible revenue
Eligible revenue generally includes revenue earned in Canada from:
- selling goods
- rendering services, and
- others' use of your resources
Use your normal accounting method when calculating revenue. You can use the cash method or the accrual method, but you must use the same approach throughout.
Special revenue circumstances
Registered charities and non-profit organizations
Registered charities and non-profit organizations may choose whether or not to include revenue from government sources, such as grants, when applying for the subsidy. You must take the same approach for each period you are applying for.
Read more about eligible revenue for charities and non-profit organizations
Non-arm's length transactions and affiliated groups
There are special rules for revenue related to certain non-arm's-length transactions and affiliated groups.
Read more about calculating eligible revenue in specific situations
Examples of revenue reduction calculation
Example 1: Automatically qualifying for a subsequent period
Business "A" eligibility
Period 1: March 15 to April 11 (15% revenue reduction required)
| Jan 2020 | Feb 2020 | Mar 2020 | Baseline (compare to Mar 2020) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | $140,000 | $130,000 |
|
CEWS eligibility: Qualifies for period 1
Baseline chosen: Corresponding month in 2019
Note: Whatever baseline you initially choose, it must remain the same for each of the following periods
Period 2: April 12 to May 9 (30% revenue reduction required)
| Jan 2020 | Feb 2020 | April 2020 | Baseline (compare to Apr 2020) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | $140,000 | $120,000 |
|
CEWS eligibility: Qualifies for period 2
Baseline chosen: Corresponding month in 2019
Although the employer's revenue has not met the 30% reduction for period 2, because they qualified for period 1, they automatically qualify for the following claim period.
Note: Whatever baseline you initially choose, it must remain the same for each of the following periods
Period 3: May 10 to June 6 (30% revenue reduction required)
| Jan 2020 | Feb 2020 | May 2020 | Baseline (compare to May 2020) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | $140,000 | $130,000 |
|
CEWS eligibility: Qualifies for period 3
Baseline chosen: Corresponding month in 2019
Note: Whatever baseline you initially choose, it must remain the same for each of the following periods
Example 2: Only qualifying for period 3
Business "B" eligibility
Period 1: March 15 to April 11 (15% revenue reduction required)
| Jan 2020 | Feb 2020 | Mar 2020 | Baseline (compare to Mar 2020) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | $140,000 | $105,000 |
|
CEWS eligibility: Does not qualify for period 1
Baseline chosen: Corresponding month in 2019 and average of Jan/Feb are both below 15%.
Period 2: April 12 to May 9 (30% revenue reduction required)
| Jan 2020 | Feb 2020 | April 2020 | Baseline (compare to Apr 2020) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | $140,000 | $120,000 |
|
CEWS eligibility: Does not qualify for period 2
Baseline chosen: Corresponding month in 2019 and average of Jan/Feb are both below 30%
Period 3: May 10 to June 6 (30% revenue reduction required)
| Jan 2020 | Feb 2020 | May 2020 | Baseline (compare to May 2020) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | $140,000 | $120,000 |
|
CEWS eligibility: Qualifies for period 3
Baseline chosen: Corresponding month in 2019
Note: Whatever baseline you initially choose, it must remain the same for each of the following periods
Example 3: Qualifying for all 3 periods
Business "C" eligibility
Period 1: March 15 to April 11 (15% revenue reduction required)
| Jan 2020 | Feb 2020 | Mar 2020 | Baseline (compare to Mar 2020) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | $140,000 | $110,000 |
|
CEWS eligibility: Qualifies for period 1
Baseline chosen: Corresponding month in 2019
Note: Whatever baseline you initially choose, it must remain the same for each of the following periods
Period 2: April 12 to May 9 (30% revenue reduction required)
| Jan 2020 | Feb 2020 | April 2020 | Baseline (compare to Apr 2020) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | $140,000 | $120,000 |
|
CEWS eligibility: Qualifies for period 2
Baseline chosen: Corresponding month in 2019
Although the employer's revenue has not met the 30% reduction for period 2, because they qualified for period 1, they automatically qualify for the following claim period.
Note: Whatever baseline you initially choose, it must remain the same for each of the following periods
Period 3: May 10 to June 6 (30% revenue reduction required)
| Jan 2020 | Feb 2020 | May 2020 | Baseline (compare to May 2020) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | $140,000 | $100,000 |
|
CEWS eligibility: Qualifies for period 3
Baseline chosen: Corresponding month in 2019
Note: Whatever baseline you initially choose, it must remain the same for each of the following periods
Verifying your eligibility
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will verify your eligibility to receive the CEWS. If you do not meet the eligibility requirements for a period, you will be required to repay any amounts you received for that period. Canadians can also report suspected CEWS misuse through the CRA’s Leads program.
Read more about claim verification and penalties for non-compliance
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- Date modified:
- 2020-06-25