Falling Through the CERB Cracks 

As one of the millions of Canadians effected by COVID-19 I was excited to learn that the government would be offering financial support to those struggling. On March 25th the creation of the Canadian Response Benefit (CERB) was announced by the federal government. Under this benefit Canadians would receive $500 a week for up to 16 weeks (extended to 24 weeks in June 2020). To apply, you must live in Canada, be at least 15, have lost your job due to COVID-19, and had an income of at least $5,000 in 2019 or the last 12 months.   However this eligibility requirement left many Canadians like me out in the cold. I was one of those Canadians who either did not make enough money, who prior to the outbreak were unemployed, or were still working but had their hours cut down. In my case, I am a Black Woman who graduated out of university in 2019.  As I am an inspiring snow boarder and love the mountains, I decided to move to Calgary to join a friend there. Unfortunately, it took me several months before I was able to find a satisfactory job in my career field.  Finally, when I did manage to find a job in my field, I experienced workplace racism leading me to quit. Leaving an unhealthy workplace was great for my mental health but not so good for my financial health, as I quit my job prior to making the $5,000 in income,  that would have made me eligible to apply in the future for CERB. Unemployed and with no funds to my name I moved to Toronto in search of better employment opportunities.

By Adaku-Huggins Warner
(Adaku is a volunteer journalist with the FOCUS Media Arts Centre)