Madam Speaker, I am very happy to hear of the outcome with regard to the issue faced by one of her residents.
With respect to the assessment of eligibility for self-employed Canadians who received the Canada emergency response benefit, during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Canada Revenue Agency deployed seven emergency and economic recovery measures to support Canadians and businesses.
The Government of Canada announced the CERB on March 25, 2020, and in just 12 short days after the announcement, the CRA began distributing CERB payments to the millions of Canadians who were in need of that support.
On April 27, 2020, the CRA also deployed the Canada emergency wage subsidy, otherwise known as CEWS, to eligible businesses as part of the Government of Canada's COVID-19 economic response plan. This emergency measure was designed to help employers who had been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic to keep workers on their payroll or to bring back previously laid off employees.
The CRA has worked very hard to support Canadians, including workers and small or medium-sized businesses, through this very difficult period. It also implemented measures to preserve the integrity of Canada's tax system.
We must remember that from the outset, the CERB was designed to support employed individuals, contract workers and self-employed persons who were not deemed eligible for employment insurance. For instance, millions of Canadians were able to apply for the CERB online through My Account via an automated telephone line or by calling CRA's toll-free number. Moreover, millions of payments were made to Canadians via either direct deposit or cheque, typically within just 10 days of applying for the benefit.
The CERB eligibility criteria clearly stated a person had to either earn at least $5,000 in 2019 or over the past 12 months from self-employment income or provincial benefit payments related to maternity or paternity leave.
In the first two weeks the CERB was announced, information provided on Canada.ca and by the CRA call centre agents on eligible self-employment income was unclear. The situation may have led some self-employed Canadians to apply in good faith despite being ineligible. However, by late April, clearer information regarding CERB eligibility was posted on Canada.ca and provided to CRA's call centre agents. The Government of Canada and the CRA regretted sincerely that communications regarding the eligibility criteria may not have been clear in the first days after the CERB was launched.
I would also like to point out that the Government of Canada and the CRA's support of self-employed workers does not stop there. Just last month, on February 9, the government announced that self-employed individuals whose net self-employed income was less than $5,000 and who applied for the CERB would not be required to repay the CERB as long as their gross self-employment income was at least $5,000 and they met all other eligibility criteria.
That same day, the Government of Canada and the CRA also announced they would provide targeted interest relief to Canadians who received COVID-related income support benefits. Once individuals have filed their 2020 income tax and benefit return, they will not be required to pay interest on any outstanding income tax debt for the 2020 tax year until April 30, 2022.