Recording new COVID measures in the national accounts

With the conclusion of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) in September 2020, the federal government launched new assistance programs to ensure that Canadians continue to receive the financial support that they need during the pandemic. Replacing the CERB are three programs: the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB), the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB) and the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB). Replacing the CECRA is the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS). While the CERB replacement measures will be reflected as transfers to households, CERS will be impacting businesses, non-profits and charities and will be reflected as subsidies on production in the case of businesses and as transfers in the case of non-profits. The impact of these four new programs will be reflected in the national accounts estimates starting with the 2020Q4 GDP release on March 2, 2021.

An earlier document on the treatment of COVID-19 measures in the national accounts was published at the same time as the GDP release for the second quarter of 2020 on August 28, 2020.