COVID-19 wage and hiring support for businesses

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• What the changes are
• Who can apply: COVID-19 wage and hiring support for businesses
• Periods you can apply for
• Which of your employees qualify
• Calculate your amount
• How to apply
• After you apply
• Contact us about a wage subsidy

Who can apply

On this page

• Eligibility criteria
  • General eligibility criteria
  • Additional requirements for each subsidy
  • Revenue drop requirements
• Confirming your eligibility

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for a wage or hiring subsidy, you must meet:

• two general eligibility criteria that relate to all subsidies
• additional requirements that are specific to the subsidy you are applying for, and
• revenue drop requirements for the subsidy you are applying for

You may only apply for one wage or hiring subsidy per claim period, even if you are eligible for more than one.

General eligibility criteria

You must meet both of these criteria to be eligible for any subsidy:

1. You had a CRA payroll account on March 15, 2020

   Even if you didn't have a payroll account on March 15, you may still qualify if:

   1. another person or partnership made remittances on your behalf
      

      or

   2. you purchased all (or almost all) of another person's or partnership's business assets

2. You are one of the following types of employers

   • individuals (such as sole proprietors)
   • corporations (or trusts) that are not exempt from income tax under Part I of the Income Tax Act
     

     Publicly traded companies and taxable dividends: For claim period 23 and onward, if you are a publicly traded company or a subsidiary of such a company, you are not entitled to any wage subsidy for that claim period in which you paid taxable dividends to an individual who is a holder of common shares of the company or of the subsidiary of the company.

   • the following persons that are exempt from income tax under 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
   • partnerships where all members are eligible employers
   • the following prescribed organizations:
     • 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 where at least 50% of the fair market value of all interests in the partnership are held by eligible employers throughout the claim period

Public institutions are not eligible for the subsidies. This includes municipalities and local governments, Crown corporations, public universities, colleges and schools, and hospitals.

Additional requirements for each subsidy

You must also meet the specific eligibility criteria for the subsidy you apply for.

• answer a few questions to find out which subsidies you are eligible for

Or, for past and present claim periods, read the additional requirements to be eligible for each subsidy:

Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Program (THRP) eligibility

There are two ways eligible organizations can qualify for the THRP:

Hardest-Hit Business Recovery Program (HHBRP) eligibility

Eligible organizations, regardless of their business sector, may qualify for the HHBRP if they don’t qualify for the THRP.

To qualify for the HHBRP, you must meet the following two conditions:

• You have a 12-month average revenue drop from March 2020 to February 2021 of at least 50%
• You have a claim period revenue drop of at least 50%

Canada Recovery Hiring Program (CRHP) eligibility

Types of employers eligible for CRHP

All types of employers who are eligible for the wage subsidy are eligible for CRHP, except some for-profit corporations and partnerships.

If you are a for-profit corporation, you must be either:

• a Canadian-controlled private corporations (CCPC), or
• a cooperative corporations that is eligible for the small business deduction

If you are a partnership, at least 50% of the fair market value of the partnership’s interests must be held (directly or indirectly) by employers eligible for the CRHP throughout the claim period.

Claim period revenue drop required

Period 17

No minimum revenue drop required

Periods 18 and later

Minimum revenue drop of more than 10% required

Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) eligibility Ended

There was a minimum claim period revenue drop required to qualify for a CEWS amount for some claim periods:

Period 5 to 17

No minimum revenue drop required

Periods 18 and later

Minimum revenue drop of more than 10% required to qualify for the subsidy for active employees, although you may have still qualified for a CEWS amount for your employees on leave with pay if your revenue drop was 10% or less

If you need information about qualifying for the CEWS period 1 to 4, refer to the CEWS technical questions and answers.

Revenue drop requirements

Each claim period, you will need to know how much your eligible revenue has dropped since before the pandemic.

What is eligible revenue

For the THRP and HHBRP, you also need to know your 12-month average revenue drop. This is a one-time calculation.

The online calculator will calculate your claim period revenue drop as part of your subsidy calculation. It includes a link to the 12-month average revenue drop calculator in step 2.

Calculate your wage subsidy amount online

If you use the online calculator, it will use built-in formulas to calculate your amounts based on the information you provide. If you want to see the formulas, you can read the details about how the revenue drops are calculated.

Confirming your eligibility

If we notice a mistake in your application, we will work with you to correct it. If you realize you made a mistake in your application, you can request a change to your previous claim.

We will review your claim and confirm the information you submit.

Document navigation

• Periods you can apply for

What is eligible revenue