Just as Ontario embarks on stage one of its economic reopening, Ottawa is extending the Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy to August.
It was set to expire on June 6.
"Business owners, please take confidence from this announcement. You now have some runway to catch your breath as you get restarted," said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday.
The program covers 75 per cent of the wages of a worker, but companies must have lost 30 per cent of their revenues during the pandemic. Trudeau told reporters Friday, his government is willing to take another look at that.
"We need to make sure that this program keeps working for people," he said. "Over the next month, we'll work with business and labour stakeholders on any adjustments that might be needed."
Trudeau first suggested an extension a week ago after Statistics Canada released its Labour Market Survey for April. It said the country lost two million jobs during that month, on top of the one million losses in March.
He also announced new funding to help the country's laboratories stay in business. $450 million will help labs pay their employees. Labs can also apply for the wage subsidy.
The money will also cover the majority of costs associated with implementing social distancing measures, storing dangerous substances, and restart data sets that were interrupted during the pandemic.