Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB)

Status: Closed The Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) provided financial support to employed and self-employed Canadians who were directly affected by COVID-19. and were not entitled to Employment Insurance (EI) benefits. Depending on when you applied, applicants received either $1,000 ( $900 after taxes withheld) or $600 ( $540 after taxes withheld) for a 2-week period, between September 27, 2020 and October 23, 2021 . The last day to apply was December 22, 2021 .

On this page

• Eligibility criteria
• Verifying your eligibility
• If you need to repay

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for the CRB payments, you must have met the following conditions:

During the period you applied for:
you were not employed or self-employed for reasons related to COVID-19

The 50% reduction is based on your average weekly employment or net self-employment income from the previous year.

• For periods in 2020, use either 2019 or the previous 12 months
• For periods in 2021, use 2019, 2020, or the previous 12 months

You must have met this criteria for every period you applied for.

Example:

2020, 2019, or the previous 12 months

$26, 000 (employment and self-employment income in 2019, 2020, or the previous 12 months)

÷ 52

= $500 (average weekly income in 2019, 2020, or the previous 12 months )

÷ 2

= $250 (50% of the average weekly income in 2019, 2020, or the previous 12 months )

CRB 2-week period

$100 (employment and self-employment income for the CRB period)

÷ 2

= $50 (average weekly income for the CRB period)

Your average weekly income for the CRB period must have been less than 50% of your average weekly income in 2019, 2020, or the previous 12 months for periods in 2021.

In this example, since $50 (average weekly income for the CRB period) is less than $250 (50% of the average weekly income in 2019, 2020, or the previous 12 months ), the individual would have met this criteria.

What is included in employment or self-employment income

For this calculation, self-employment income is your revenue minus any expenses incurred to earn the self-employment revenue.

Employment and/or self-employment income includes, among other things:

• tips you may earn while working
• non-eligible dividends
• honoraria (such as nominal amounts paid to emergency service volunteers)
• royalties (such as those paid to artists)

Do not include the following in the calculation:

• Canada Pension Plan (CPP), Québec Pension Plan (QPP), or other pension income
• Social assistance or family support payments
• Student loans and bursaries
• Old Age Security (OAS) payments
• Maternity and parental benefits from EI or similar QPIP benefits
• Any Canada COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefits
• Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB)
• Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB)
• Short-term disability benefits
• Employment Insurance (EI) benefits
• Québec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP) benefits
• employment income (total or gross pay)
• net self-employment income (after deducting expenses)
• maternity and parental benefits from EI or similar QPIP benefits
• regular or special benefits from EI if your EI claim began on or after September 27, 2020
• Counts as income:
  • All employment or self-employment income, including:
    • tips
    • non-eligible dividends
    • honoraria (nominal amounts paid to volunteers)
    • royalties (payments to artists)
    • disability benefits
    • student loans, bursaries or scholarships
    • social assistance or family support payments
    • Canada Pension Plan (CPP), Québec Pension Plan (QPP), or other pension income
    • Old Age Security (OAS) payments
    • amounts from other COVID-19 benefits:
      • Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB)
      • Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB)
      • Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB)
      • Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB)
      • Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB)
      • you travelled for medical treatment certified by a medical practitioner
      • you accompanied a person who was not able to travel without help from an attendant to get medical treatment certified by a medical practitioner
      • you were an essential worker who travelled for reasons normally exempt from quarantine (such health care workers or truck drivers who need to cross the border for work) but were required to quarantine upon return to Canada
      you applied for fewer than 21 periods starting September 27, 2020

      To confirm your number of CRB periods, check in CRA My Account, under "COVID-19 Support Payment Application Details".

      You are not incarcerated in a prison or other institution Exceptions

      If you're on day parole or may legally seek employment, you may be eligible for the CRB if you also meet all the other eligibility criteria.

      If you did not meet the above criteria, you were not eligible for the CRB. Find out how to repay the CRB.

      If you met the above criteria, you were eligible for the CRB. You may have received $1,000 ($900 after taxes withheld) or $600 ($540 after taxes withheld) for each 2-week period, depending on when you applied for the benefit.