Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

By Justin Goulet

Trudeau announces eight-week extension to CERB

Jun 16, 2020 | 9:28 AM

OTTAWA, ON – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday morning that eligibility for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) is being extended for eight weeks.

The COVID-19 aid pays up to $500 a week to eligible Canadians and was slated to last 16 weeks when it was started in mid-March.

This means that those who had successfully applied earlier this year would soon be running out of their benefit. In his daily COVID-19 briefing, Trudeau said the economy is recovering from mass closures ordered to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus, but there’s a long way to go.

The New Democrats had been demanding an extension to the CERB, in exchange for the party’s support for the minority Liberals in an upcoming confidence vote.

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Trudeau also announced in his briefing that the Canada-United States border will remain closed to non-essential travel for at least another 30 days.

The closure deal was set to expire this coming Sunday but will now extend to July 21, 2020.