Madam Speaker, the Canada emergency wage subsidy is helping employers of all sizes and in all industries affected by the pandemic. It is protecting jobs, encouraging employers to rehire workers previously laid off as a result of COVID-19, and helping position Canadian businesses for a strong recovery when the virus is under control.
Well over five million Canadian employees have had their jobs supported through the wage subsidy, with well over $76 billion paid out in wage subsidies as of April 25. At the outset, the government was clear that the intention of this program was to support employees, whether they worked for a small or large employer, as long as employers could demonstrate that they had been affected by the pandemic. It is important to bear in mind that the wage subsidy is paid retroactively on the amount of wages actually paid by employers during a given period, ensuring that employees are retained and supported.
Our goal at the outset of the crisis was to encourage employers impacted by the pandemic to retain and rehire employees by delivering assistance as quickly as practical, recognizing the urgency of the situation created by the pandemic and the limited life of the program. To achieve this, our government initially kept conditions to a minimum, but notably required a decrease in revenue to ensure that the subsidy would be targeted to those in need.
With budget 2021, we have taken action to ensure that the wage subsidy supports workers as intended. It is proposed that any publicly listed corporation receiving the wage subsidy and found to be paying its top executives more in 2021 than in 2019 will need to repay the equivalent wage subsidy amounts received for any qualifying period starting after June 5, and until the end of the wage subsidy program.
When COVID-19 struck, our government needed to step up quickly and decisively to prevent Canadian families and Canadian businesses from falling off an economic cliff. Along with programs like the CERB, the wage subsidy is a prime example of how we prevented this from happening. It is also a prime example of how our government will continue to do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes to help Canadians through this bleak time.
To bridge Canadians through the third wave of this crisis and into the recovery and to give workers and employers certainty and stability over the coming months, budget 2021 proposes to extend the wage subsidy until September 25.
Until we are through this, we will continue to do what we must do to prevent permanent economic damage to Canadians and our economy, and to invest in ways that will allow us to come back strong after COVID-19. I am thankful for the opportunity to make this clear.