Finance committee  That's right. The annual limit would be $8,000. So each year, a person could take that amount from their RRSP and transfer it to the FHSA without any tax consequences. In the case of a potential first-time homebuyer, this will remain tax-free.

Finance committee  Hello. Thank you for your question. As stated earlier, we can't really answer about the government's intent or why they created this new account instead of using the HBP. However, I can say what has changed from the first proposal. Initially, it was going to be one or the other, either the HBP or the FHSA.

Finance committee  That's right. In addition, the person will be able to transfer the funds they have in their RRSP to the FHSA. Both accounts are subject to annual and lifetime limits.

Finance committee  Thank you for the question. I'll respond first. My colleague, Mr. Baylor, can elaborate if he wants. I said earlier that we know that businesses in all sectors of the economy are facing significant challenges. This is reflected in the claims data for the wage and rent subsidy programs.

Finance committee  I think so. This is reflected in the fact that both programs apply to all sectors of the industry. As my colleague, Mr. Baylor, said earlier, there was a certain presumption that the tourism sector was particularly affected by the health and travel restrictions. The plan to target that particular sector was announced in the press release.

Finance committee  As Max was saying, it was partly through engagement with stakeholders, including other departments that might be managing other tourism-related programs, that we came up with the definition. Then in terms of level, we also received input and we took that into consideration when developing the sliding scale for the subsidy rate and what kind of threshold would need to be met to qualify for the measure, recognizing that the intention was to move away from the broad-based support programs we had before to a more targeted approach that would provide more support but to a specific subset of industries.

Finance committee  On that note, I also want to bring up the local lockdown program. In the event of additional lockdowns that lead to the disruption of certain supply chains, for example, all affected businesses could be eligible for a subsidy program that would basically provide the same thing as the tourism and hospitality recovery program.

Finance committee  Thank you for the question. Perhaps I can answer it. There's a certain willingness to help the tourism sector in particular through these subsidy programs—

Finance committee  As I was saying, these programs focus mainly on the tourism sector, which has been particularly affected by the health and travel restrictions. However, the two programs as a whole, the tourism program and the hardest‑hit business program, cover all sectors of the economy. As far as I know, businesses are facing challenges in all sectors of the economy.

Finance committee  I can answer the question. It's helpful to understand how employment support programs work. In terms of the stimulus package for the hardest hit businesses, the criterion of having suffered a drop in income in a particular month compared to another month certainly comes from the old wage and rent subsidy program.

Finance committee  Sorry, you're muted.

Finance committee  No, the comment was for Ms. Demers.

Finance committee  On the wage and rent subsidy, I can answer that part of your question. Based on the latest available data, there have been about 450,000 businesses or employers that have claimed the wage subsidy. The number of employees supported each month varies from month to month, but it was up to 5.3 million at the height of the pandemic.

Finance committee  Thank you for the question. I would like to echo a comment made earlier by my colleague Mr. McGowan. The wage and subsidies apply to wages and rents. To be eligible for these programs, you had to have and will have to have eligible expenses, such as wages or rent. So self‑employed workers would not be eligible for the wage subsidy, since they do not pay any wages.

Finance committee  Thank you for the question, Mrs. Chatel. Broadly speaking, as stated in the answers to the previous questions, after these programs were officially announced, consultations were held with the various stakeholders. That formed the basis, in part, for the definitions that were put into the bill, but also for establishing the revenue loss thresholds at which it was felt that businesses really needed the assistance.