Program directory · Employment and Social Development Canada
Pandemic-related Benefits
- Department
- Employment and Social Development Canada
- Program code
- BGO30 (HRSD)
- Core responsibility
- Learning, Skills Development and Employment
- In Departmental Plans
- 2025-26 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
This program consolidates three temporary benefit programs put in place to help support Canadian workers during the pandemic:
• Canada Emergency Response Benefit;
• Canada Recovery Benefits (which included the Canada Recovery Benefit, the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit and the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit); and
• Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit
These benefits were 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 the Departmental Plans in 2025-26. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pandemic-related Benefits | This program | 2025-26 – 2028-29 | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | Planned employees (FTEs) 34, against 0 in 2025-26 (—). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2026-27 | Planned spending $62.3M, against $128M in 2025-26 (−51%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
| 2028-29 | Planned employees (FTEs) 0, against 32 in 2027-28 (−100%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2028-29 | Planned spending $0, against $56.1M in 2027-28 (−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
No results reported yet.
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
No indicators in the 2026-27 plan.
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 80% | 2028 | — | Planned |
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | $128M | — |
| 2026-27 | $62.3M | — |
| 2027-28 | $56.1M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $0* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 0 | — |
| 2026-27 | 34 | — |
| 2027-28 | 32* | — |
| 2028-29 | 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 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 plan | $127,614,663 | $0 | $0 | |
| 2026-27 plan | $62,263,009 | $56,121,305 | $0 | |
| Actual |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
