On Friday, the Federal Government announced plans to extend the Canada Recovery Benefit and Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit by an additional 12 weeks.
The existing CRB Benefit of $500 per week remains and the maximum claim period will increase from the 26 weeks to 38 weeks.
In addition, the federal sickness benefit will expand from two weeks to four weeks, allowing employees to remain at home in the event of illness or if they have to isolate due to COVID-19.
Finally, Employment Insurance eligibility is being nearly doubled, from 26 weeks to 50 weeks for any claims filed since September 2020.
These proposals aim to stave off benefit panic for those who are nearing the end of their benefit periods and remain out of work.
Weekly Update – By The Numbers
| North America | Friday Close | Weekly Change | Weekly % Change | YTD % Change |
| Canada – S&P TSX Composite | 18,384 | -76 | -0.41% | 5.46% |
| USA – Dow Jones Industrial Average | 31,494 | 36 | 0.11% | 2.90% |
| USA – S&P 500 | 3,907 | -28 | -0.71% | 4.02% |
| USA – Nasdaq | 13,874 | -221 | -1.57% | 7.65% |
| Gold Futures (USD) | $1,783.10 | -$39.10 | -2.15% | -6.07% |
| Crude Oil Futures (USD) | $59.01 | -$0.59 | -0.99% | 21.62% |
| CAD/USD Exchange Rate | $0.7927 | $0.0048 | 0.61% | 0.87% |
| Europe / Asia | Friday Close | Weekly Change | Weekly % Change | YTD % Change |
| MSCI World Index | 2,806 | -13 | -0.46% | 4.31% |
| Switzerland – Euro Stoxx 50 | 3,713 | 17 | 0.46% | 3.95% |
| England – FTSE 100 | 6,624 | 34 | 0.52% | 2.52% |
| France – CAC 40 | 5,774 | 70 | 1.23% | 4.02% |
| Germany – DAX Performance Index | 13,993 | -57 | -0.41% | 2.00% |
| Japan – Nikkei 225 | 30,018 | 498 | 1.69% | 9.38% |
| China – Shanghai Composite Index | 3,696 | 41 | 1.12% | 6.42% |
| CAD/EURO Exchange Rate | € 0.6538 | € 0.0039 | 0.60% | 1.63% |
| Fixed Income | Friday Close | Weekly Change | Weekly % Change | YTD % Change |
| 10-Year Bond Yield (in %) | 1.3450 | 0.1450 | 12.08% | 46.83% |
Sources: Yahoo! Finance, CNBC.com