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