The COVID-19 Pandemic has profoundly impacted the arts sector, and CARFAC appreciates the Federal Government’s commitment to help artists through this challenging time. The Canada Recovery Benefit expired on October 23rd. Last week, we urged the Government of Canada to extend the CRB benefit, to ensure that Canadian artists will not be left behind.
Unfortunately, the government confirmed that the CRB will expire and it will be replaced by the new Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit, which is limited to regions under government-imposed lockdowns. This solution does not take into consideration the working realities of most artists, and the closures that may not necessarily be government-imposed.
We encourage visual artists to complete this very short survey to help us better understand what cancelling the CRB means for our community.
We also urge the Federal Government to find a long-term social safety net for our sector. We fully support the implementation of a Guaranteed Basic Income program, and we also believe that CERB and CRB have set a useful precedent for Employment Insurance reform. CARFAC submitted a brief on EI reform, and we look forward to further consultations about how to modernize EI in ways that make the program relevant to the realities of artists.
CARFAC Ontario News 