federal wage subsidy program might cost $14 billion less than the government predicted.A new report today by Parliamentary Budget Office analyst Ben Segel-Brown estimates subsidizing wages for companies during the COVID-19 pandemic will cost $67.9 billion through the end of December.Finance Minister Bill Morneau estimated in his July fiscal report it would cost $82.3 billion.
Revamped coronavirus wage subsidy program might help more businesses, industry says Segel-Brown says that figure was prudent at the time because of economic uncertainty and ongoing work to update the program’s rules.The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy encourages employers to keep their workers on the payroll even as work slows because of the pandemic by offering to.