The federal government announced the Canada Recovery Hiring Program (CRHP) on April 19, in Budget 2021. The program is meant to provide financial support for hard hit businesses to hire workers and/or increase hours of existing workers as the recovery takes hold.

The program will run from June 6 to November 20, 2021 and support up to 50% of the difference between base period and current period payroll, up to a maximum of $1,129 per eligible employee, for qualifying businesses.

Employers will have to choose between receiving support through the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy or through the CRHP. Period 17 of the CEWS (June 6 – July 3, 2021) is also the first period of the CRHP. Note that the following document aligns period identifiers for both CEWS and CRHP for ease of reference.

The program can be used to cover additional hours for current employees or the full hours of new or re-hired employees. This program is aimed at encouraging employers to hire or re-hire employees as quickly as possible. Because it winds down over time, employers have an incentive to hire earlier rather than waiting.

Eligibility

Eligible Employers

Employers eligible for the CRHP include:

• Canadian Controlled Private Corporations (including cooperatives);
• Individuals;
• Non-profit organizations;
• Registered charities
• Certain partnerships.

Employers ineligible for the CRHP include:

• Public institutions including municipalities and local governments;
• Crown corporations;
• Wholly owned municipal corporations;
• Public universities, colleges & schools
• Hospitals.

*Eligible employers must have had a payroll account open with the Canada Revenue Agency on March 15, 2020.

Eligible Employees

To be eligible for the CRHP, an employee must be employed primarily in Canada by an eligible employer within a qualifying period. An employee is also eligible if employed (by an eligible employer) for a portion of the qualifying period.

The CRHP is not available for furloughed employees (i.e. those employees on leave, with pay, not performing work). However, employees are eligible if they are on paid leave for reasons that include vacation, sickness or sabbatical.  

The hiring subsidy is not available to an employee who is on a period of paid absence. Again vacation, sick leave or a sabbatical is not considered on leave with pay and therefore is included in the CRHP calculation.

Eligible Remuneration

Like the CEWS, only certain types of remuneration are eligible for the CRHP. They include salary, wages and other remuneration for which employers are required to withhold or deduct amounts on account of the employee’s income tax obligations.

The CRHP does not cover severance pay, stock options or the personal use of a corporate vehicle. The amount of remuneration would be based solely on the remuneration paid in the qualifying period being considered.

Incremental Remuneration

Employers calculate the amount of CRHP funding they are eligible for in a particular period by calculating incremental remuneration. Incremental remuneration is the difference between an employer’s total eligible remuneration paid to eligible employees in the qualifying period and the baseline period (March 14 – April 10, 2021). Eligible remuneration is subject to a maximum of $1,129 per week.

Similar to the CEWS, eligible remuneration for a week cannot exceed baseline remuneration determined for that week.

The following table lists the applicable dates for the calculation of incremental remuneration.

Canada Recovery Hiring Program Dates Used to Calculate Incremental Remuneration, Periods 17* to 22
(June 6, 2021 to November 20, 2021)
Qualifying period	Period 17	Period 18	Period 19	Period 20	Period 21	Period 22
Qualifying period dates	June 6 to July 3, 2021	July 4 to July 31, 2021	August 1 to August 28, 2021	August 29 to September 25, 2021	September 26 to October 23, 2021	October 24 to November 20, 2021
Baseline period	March 14 to April 10, 2021
*Period 17 of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy would be the first period of the Canada Recovery Hiring Program. Period identifiers have been aligned for ease of reference.

Subsidy Amount

Subsidy amounts are listed in the table below. The program is designed to wind down over time. As such, the subsidy starts at 50% and by Period 20 (the third period of the CRHP) the subsidy amount begins to fall by 10 percentage points first to 40% and then down to 20% for the final period.

Employers are eligible for the subsidy if they meet the revenue-decline threshold (see below).

If an eligible employer's decline in revenues exceeds the revenue-decline threshold for a qualifying period, its subsidy in that qualifying period is equal to its incremental remuneration multiplied by the applicable hiring subsidy rate for that qualifying period. These hiring subsidy rates are shown in the table below.

Canada Recovery Hiring Program Rates, Periods 17* to 22
(June 6, 2021 to November 20, 2021)
	Period 17	Period 18	Period 19	Period 20	Period 21	Period 22
	June 6 – July 3	July 4 – July 31	August 1 – August 28	August 29 – September 25	September 26 – October 23	October 24 – November 20
Hiring subsidy rate	50%	50%	50%	40%	30%	20%
*Period 17 of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy would be the first period of the Canada Recovery Hiring Program. Period identifiers have been aligned for ease of reference.

Revenue-Decline Threshold

For the periods where the CEWS is in effect, the qualifying revenue decline threshold for the CRHP is the same as the CEWS. For those periods where the CEWS is no longer in effect, and only the CRHP applies, an eligible employer must demonstrate a revenue decline of at least 10% over the baseline period. In other words, eligible CRHP employers must demonstrate more than a 0% revenue decline for the June 6 to July 3, 2021 qualifying period and more than a 10% revenue decline for qualifying periods between July 4 and November 20, 2021.

Revenue decline is determined in the same manner as under the CEWS. The table below outlines how employers shall determine a decline in revenues for each of the qualifying periods from June 6, 2021 to November 20, 2021.

Canada Recovery Hiring Program Reference Periods, Periods 17* to 22
(June 6, 2021 to November 20, 2021)
Timing	Period 17	Period 18	Period 19	Period 20	Period 21	Period 22
	June 6 – July 3	July 4 – July 31	August 1 – August 28	August 29 – September 25	September 26 – October 23	October 24 – November 20
General approach	June 2021 over June 2019 or May 2021 over May 2019	July 2021 over July 2019 or June 2021 over June 2019	August 2021 over August 2019 or July 2021 over July 2019	September 2021 over September 2019 or August 2021 over August 2019	October 2021 over October 2019 or September 2021 over September 2019	November 2021 over November 2019 or October 2021 over October 2019
Alternative approach	June 2021 or May 2021 over average of January and February 2020	July 2021 or June 2021 over average of January and February 2020	August 2021 or July 2021 over average of January and February 2020	September 2021 or August 2021 over average of January and February 2020	October 2021 or September 2021 over average of January and February 2020	November 2021 or October 2021 over average of January and February 2020
*Period 17 of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy would be the first period of the Canada Recovery Hiring Program. Period identifiers have been aligned for ease of reference.

Application Period

Employers must apply for the subsidy no later than 180 days after the end of the qualifying period.

Application Process

Employers can apply for the CEWS through the CRA’s My Business Account portal. Applications for each claim period can only be submitted once the claim period is over.

The government has developed an online  calculator that allows employers to determine the amount of subsidy they will receive for each claim period. The calculator calculates the amount an employer would receive through CRHP and the amount an employer would receive through CEWS and then automatically applies for the program with the higher amount of subsidy. Again, employers cannot use both.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Does the CRHP use the same revenue decline method as CEWS?

Yes, the CRHP uses the same method to calculate revenue decline as the CEWS. During the months when both programs are running (June to October) the CRHP and the CEWS will have the same subsidy rate. Once the CEWS ends, the subsidy rate for the CRHP will be 30% for period 21 and 20% for period 22.

2. Can an employer access CEWS and the CRHP at the same time?

No, employers must choose between the CEWS and the CRHP. Government suggests employers calculate the benefit they would receive under both programs and then choose the program that provides the most benefit in each period.