Program directory · Employment and Social Development Canada
Canada Recovery Benefits
- Department
- Employment and Social Development Canada
- Program code
- BGO25 (HRSD)
- Core responsibility
- Learning, Skills Development and Employment
- In Departmental Plans
- 2022-23 – 2024-25 · Appeared and later dropped
What it does
Three recovery benefits provided temporary income support to Canadian workers unable to work for reasons related to COVID-19 : the Canada Recovery Benefit, for those who were not eligible for EI and were not employed or self-employed for reasons related to COVID-19 or had their employment/self-employment income reduced by at least 50% due to COVID-19; the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit, for workers who were unable to work because they were sick or had to self-isolate due to COVID-19, or have underlying conditions that made them more susceptible to COVID-19; and, the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit, for workers who were unable to work because they had to care for a child or family member because schools, day-cares or care facilities were closed due to COVID-19, or because the child or family member was sick and/or required to quarantine or was at high risk of serious health implications because of COVID-19. These benefits were administered by the CRA on behalf of Employment and Social Development Canada.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2020-21. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada Recovery Benefits | This program | 2020-21 – 2026-27 | $33.4B |
| Canada Disability Benefit | Later program (name match, low confidence) | 2024-25 – 2028-29 | $2.3M |
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | Spending $187M, against $16.6B in 2021-22 (−99%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Indicators added: Total number of CRB, CRSB, and CRCB beneficiaries combined. | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Indicators dropped: Percentage of workers in Canada who received Canada Caregiving Benefit; Percentage of workers in Canada who received Canada Recovery Benefit; Percentage of workers in Canada who received Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Spending -$107M, against $187M in 2022-23 (−157%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2025-26 | Appears to be replaced by Canada Disability Benefit | Canada Spends name match across plans (an inference) |
| 2025-26 | Planned spending $54M, against -$91M in 2024-25 (+159%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
| 2026-27 | Planned spending $0, against $54M in 2025-26 (−100%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | Not applicable | — | Not available The Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) was available between September 27, 2020 and October 23, 2021, and the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB) and Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB) were available between September 27, 2020 and May 7, 2022. The program remains as wind down activities continue. As the CRB concluded in 2021, there are no further results available. Actual results were repor… | No result reported |
| 2024-25 | Not applicable | 2025 | Not available The Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) was available between September 27, 2020 and October 23, 2021, and the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB) and Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB) were available between September 27, 2020 and May 7, 2022. As the CRB concluded in 2021, there are no further results available. Actual results were reported in 2021-2022. As the CRSB and CRCB concluded in 20… | No result reported |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | The Canada Recovery Benefits are a suite of three temporary income support measures for those not eligible for EI or who required tailored support when their employment was affected by COVID-19. Given the exceptional nature of the program, as the pandemic continued and the economy continued to be i… | 2022 | 0.9% The Canada Caregiving Benefit was available between September 27, 2020 and May 7, 2022. | No result reported |
| 2022-23 | Not applicable | 2023 | 0.031% The Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB) was a temporary income support measure for employed and self-employed individuals who were unable to work because they had to care for their child under 12 years old or a family member who needed supervised care due to COVID-19. The CRCB was available between September 27, 2020 and May 7, 2022. Note – actual result captures data from March 27 to May 7… | No result reported |
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | — | 2022 | 1.8% The Canada Recovery Benefits are a suite of three temporary income support measures for those not eligible for EI or who require tailored support when their employment is affected by COVID-19. Given the exceptional nature of the program, as the pandemic continued and the economy continued to be impacted, there was very limited data to inform target development or set baselines. A target was not s… | No result reported |
| 2022-23 | Not applicable | 2023 | Not available The Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) was a temporary income support measure for employed and self-employed individuals who were unable to work due to COVID-19 or had a 50% reduction in their work due to the pandemic. The temporary benefit was available between September 27, 2020, and October 23, 2021. As the CRB concluded in 2021, there are no further results available. Actual results were reported… | No result reported |
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | — | 2022 | 3.41% The Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit was available between September 27, 2020 and May 7, 2022. | No result reported |
| 2022-23 | Not applicable | 2023 | 0.418% The Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB) was a temporary income support measure for employed and self-employed individuals who were unable to work because they were sick or needed to self-isolate due to COVID-19 or had an underlying health conditions that had made them more susceptible to COVID-19. The CRSB was available between September 27, 2020, and May 7, 2022. Note – actual result capture… | No result reported |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
No indicators in the 2026-27 plan.
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
No targets with a later due date.
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | — | $16.9B |
| 2021-22 | — | $16.6B |
| 2022-23 | $417M | $187M |
| 2023-24 | $94.2M | -$107M |
| 2024-25 | $92.6M | -$91M |
| 2025-26 | $54M* | — |
| 2026-27 | $0* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | — | 0 |
| 2021-22 | — | 0 |
| 2022-23 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023-24 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024-25 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025-26 | 0* | — |
| 2026-27 | 0* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 plan | $416,830,000 | $0 | $0 | ||
| 2023-24 plan | $94,187,964 | $38,121,585 | $10,247,729 | ||
| 2024-25 plan | $92,566,467 | $54,024,089 | $0 | ||
| Actual | $186,545,527 | -$106,541,226 | -$90,988,834 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
