Program directory · Employment and Social Development Canada
Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit
- Department
- Employment and Social Development Canada
- Program code
- BGO28 (HRSD)
- Core responsibility
- Learning, Skills Development and Employment
- In Departmental Plans
- 2022-23 – 2024-25 · Appeared and later dropped
What it does
The CWLB was announced in October 2021 and became law on December 17, 2021.
The CWLB provided temporary income support of $300 ($270 after taxes withheld) per week to workers in designated lockdown regions who earned at least $5,000 in 2020 or the 12 month period prior to applying, and, due to the COVID-19 lockdown measures in their region: lost their job and were unemployed; were self-employed, but unable to continue their work; or were employed or self-employed but had a 50% reduction in average weekly income as compared to the previous year.
Eligible workers were required to apply for the benefit for each one-week period that they are affected by lockdown measures in a designated region. While the CWLB was available to both Employment Insurance (EI) eligible and non-EI eligible workers, claimants could not receive both benefits at the same time. Workers in a lockdown region had up to 60 days from the end of the period for which they are applying to make an application.
The benefit was available between October 24, 2021, and May 7, 2022, and was administered by the Canada Revenue Agency 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 2021-22. 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 Worker Lockdown Benefit | This program | 2021-22 – 2026-27 | $984M |
No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.
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 $18.9M, against $946M in 2021-22 (−98%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Spending $12.8M, against $18.9M in 2022-23 (−32%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2024-25 | Spending $5.8M, against $12.8M in 2023-24 (−55%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | Not applicable | 2022 | 460,000 The Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit was a temporary response to quickly support employed or self-employed workers who could not work due to a COVID-19 lockdown. The CWLB was available between October 24, 2021, and May 7, 2022. Note – actual result captures data from October 2021 to May 2022. | No result reported |
| 2023-24 | Not applicable | — | Not available The Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit was a temporary response to quickly support workers whose income was interrupted due to a COVID-19 lockdown. The CWLB was available between October 24, 2021, and May 7, 2022. As the CWLB concluded in May 2022, there are no further results available for 2023-24. The program remains as wind down activities continue. Actual results were reported in 2022-23. | No result reported |
| 2024-25 | Not applicable | 2025 | Not available The Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit (CWLP) was a temporary response to quickly support workers whose income was interrupted due to a COVID-19 lockdown. The CWLB was available between October 24, 2021, and May 7, 2022. As the CWLB concluded in May 2022, there are no further results available for 2023-2024. Actual results were reported in 2022-2023. The program remains in the program inventory due t… | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | — | $946M |
| 2022-23 | $17.8M | $18.9M |
| 2023-24 | $15.9M | $12.8M |
| 2024-25 | $8.8M | $5.8M |
| 2025-26 | $1.9M* | — |
| 2026-27 | $0* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | $17,760,000 | $0 | $0 | ||
| 2023-24 plan | $15,869,252 | $7,605,729 | $4,727,250 | ||
| 2024-25 plan | $8,782,824 | $1,944,510 | $0 | ||
| Actual | $18,910,388 | $12,813,464 | $5,823,351 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
