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Details Announced About $ 40-million ‘ Support for Workers in the Live Arts & Music Sectors Fund ’
The Department of Canadian Heritage has announced the details of the $ 40-million Support for Workers in the Live Arts and Music Sectors Fund . This allocation stems from the Fall Economic Statement investment of $ 181.5 million in emergency supports for the arts and culture sectors .
The Support for Workers in Live Arts and Music Sectors Fund aims to : support the arts and music cultural sectors in immediately contracting and employing artists
PM JUSTIN TRUDEAU and cultural workers ; and provide arts and cultural experiences , both live and digital to
Canadians , while restrictions on gatherings and travel continue across the country .
The Support for Workers in the Live Arts and Music Sectors Fund will include an investment of $ 5 million through the Building Communities through Arts and Heritage – Local Festivals component and $ 20 million through the Canada Arts Presentation Fund ( CAPF ). The remaining $ 15 million will be distributed through the Canada Music Fund ( CMF ), FACTOR , and Musicaction .
There is no deadline to apply for the fund . Applications will be accepted on a continuous basis for projects to be carried out between April 1 , 2021 , and March 31 , 2022 . Funding will cover up to 100 % of eligible expenses , up to $ 100,000 .
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Feds to Extend Several Pandemic Income Benefits
On Feb . 19 , 2021 , Prime Minister Justin Trudeau , along with Minister of Employment , Workforce Development , and Disability Inclusion , Carla Qualtrough , announced that the federal government will extend the Canada Recovery Benefit ( CRB ), the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit ( CRSB ), the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit ( CRCB ), and Employment Insurance ( EI ) for a number of weeks for eligible recipients . As some workers could begin to exhaust their benefits in late March , this increase would ensure continued support as the economy and labour force recovers , they said . It would also provide additional access to the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit .
The proposed changes would : increase the number of weeks available under the CRB and the CRCB by 12 weeks , extending the maximum duration of the benefits from 26 weeks to up to 38 weeks ; increase the number of weeks available under the CRSB from the current two weeks to four weeks ; and increase the number of weeks of EI regular benefits available by up to 24 weeks to a maximum of 50 weeks for claims that are made between Sept . 27 , 2020 and Sept . 25 , 2021 .
Subject to the legislation being passed by parliament , in addition , self-employed workers who have opted in to the EI program to access special benefits would be able to use a 2020 earnings threshold of $ 5,000 , compared to the previous threshold of $ 7,555 . This change would be retroactive to claims established as of Jan . 3 , 2021 and would apply until Sept . 25 , 2021 .
Canadians should continue to apply for the recovery benefits through the Canada Revenue Agency and for Employment Insurance benefits through Service Canada .
Gig Workers Won ’ t Have to Repay CERB
In December 2020 , around 40,000 Canadians who had collected Canada Emergency Response Benefit ( CERB ) payments , which included many gig-workers like musicians , received letters from the Canada Revenue Agency ( CRA ) warning that they may have to pay back the relief money they received because of confusion over the gross versus net income threshold . Canada ’ s musician ’ s union , the Canadian Federation of Musicians ( CFM ), joined other cultural worker associations , unions , and guilds to seek clarification from the government on the notices , and to lobby to halt any repayments . On Feb . 9 , 2021 , the federal government announced that self-employed individuals who applied for the CERB and would have qualified based on their gross income will not be required to repay the benefit provided they also met all other eligibility requirements . The same approach will apply whether the individual applied through the Canada Revenue Agency or Service Canada .
This means that self-employed individuals whose net self-employment income was less than $ 5,000 and who applied for the CERB will not be required to repay the money , as long as their gross self-employment income was at least $ 5,000 and they met all other eligibility criteria .
Some self-employed individuals whose net self-employment income was less than $ 5,000 may have already voluntarily repaid the CERB . The CRA and Service Canada will return any repaid amounts to these individuals .
For more information , go to www . canada . ca .
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