CANADA RECOVERY HIRING PROGRAM (CRHP): New Hiring Subsidy

15 Jun CANADA RECOVERY HIRING PROGRAM (CRHP): New Hiring Subsidy

The 2021 Federal Budget introduced the new CRHP which would provide eligible employers with a subsidy of up to 50% of the incremental remuneration paid to eligible employees in respect of June 6, 2021 to November 20, 2021. The higher of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) or CRHP may be claimed for a particular qualifying period, but not both.

Eligible employers

Employers eligible for CEWS would generally be eligible for CRHP. However, a for-profit corporation would be eligible only if it is a Canadian-controlled private corporation (subject to a few minor exceptions). Eligible employers (or their payroll service provider) must have had a CRA payroll account open March 15, 2020.

Eligible employees

The same employees eligible for CEWS are proposed to be eligible for CRHP, except that CRHP will not be available for furloughed employees.

Incremental remuneration for a qualifying period means the difference between:

• an employer’s total eligible remuneration paid to eligible employees for the qualifying period, and
• its total eligible remuneration paid to eligible employees for the base period (March 14 to April 10, 2021).

The same types of remuneration eligible for CEWS would also be eligible for CRHP (e.g., salary, wages, and other remuneration for which employers are required to withhold or deduct amounts). The amount of remuneration for employees would be based solely on remuneration paid in respect of the qualifying period.

Eligible remuneration for each eligible employee would be subject to a maximum of $1,129 per week, for both the qualifying period and the base period.

Similar to CEWS, the eligible remuneration for a non-arm’s length employee for a week will also be limited based on their “baseline remuneration” (that is, their pre-COVID remuneration levels).

Required revenue decline

To qualify, the eligible employer would have to have experienced a decline in revenues. For the qualifying period between June 6, 2021 and July 3, 2021, the decline would have to be greater than 0%. For later periods, the decline must be greater than 10%.

Application deadline

Similar to CEWS and CERS, an application for a qualifying period would be required to be made no later than 180 days after the end of the qualifying period.

ACTION ITEM: As only CEWS or CRHP can be claimed for a particular period, and each program has different parameters and benefits, consideration should be given to determine the best option.