Benefits for workers, employers have included CERB, CRB, CRCB and CRSB
More than three in 10 (31 per cent) of Canadians want pandemic aid from the government to end completely
A further 36 per cent say it should be lowered, according to a report from Nanos Research.
In comparison, 21 per cent want it to continue at the current level while only seven per cent want it to increase.
Five per cent are unsure, found the survey of 1,026 Canadian adults conducted between Oct. 31 and Nov. 3, 2021.
Back in September 2020, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) predicted that more than two million Canadians would be worse off transitioning from the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) program to the EI program.
“The government should be taking an individualized approach with regards to help. Be it a business or individual, there are likely some who really need it and also some taking advantage, unfortunately,” says Terri Stewart-MacVane, substitute educational assistant at Public Schools Branch.
“End it. Businesses are begging for people to work. It is time to control the taxpayers-funded aid. At the beginning, I agreed with it but there should have been caveats ie. if your job opens up again, you go back or lose benefits,” says Mike Babin, a retired soldier who previously worked for the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM).
When the CERB program ended, the Canada Recovery Benefit came into effect to provide weekly cash assistance, along with the CRCB and the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB).
Back in September 2020, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) predicted that more than two million Canadians would be worse off transitioning from the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) program to the EI program.
Regional, age differences
Regionally, those in Quebec (74.7 per cent), Atlantic Canada (67.8 per cent) and Ontario (66.3 per cent) are the ones most likely to want to see the pandemic aid end or decreased, followed by the Prairies (63.4 per cent) and British Columbia (62.1 per cent).
Meanwhile, those in Ontario (30.2 per cent), the Prairies (29.3 per cent) and British Columbia (29.8 per cent) are more likely to want an increase or a continuation at the current level compared with respondents in Atlantic Canada (26.3 per cent) and Quebec (22.4 per cent).
Men (71.9 per cent) are more likely to want the aid to stop or be decreased compared with women (62.8 per cent). Meanwhile, more women (30.5 per cent) than men (25.3 per cent) want a continuation at the current level or an increase.
Among age groups, those aged 55 and up (70.9 per cent) are more likely to say they want the aid to stop or be decreased than those aged 35 to 54 (65.2 per cent) and 18 to 34 (64.8 per cent).
Meanwhile, those aged 35 to 54 (31.3 per cent) are more likely to want an increase or continuation at the current rate than those aged 18 to 34 (29.5 per cent) and 55 plus (23.8 per cent).
Last month, employer groups called on the federal government to immediately extend and expand wage and rent subsidies before they ended.
“The federal government’s decision to end the Canada Recovery Benefit before implementing a permanent fix for the country’s inadequate [employment insurance] program will revert workers to failed pre-pandemic income security measures,” said Unifor in a tweet.
