Federal wage subsidy may cost more this year than planned

Parliament’s spending watchdog estimates the Liberals will spend more this year on a wage subsidy program than expected, but less in 2021.

The Liberals estimated last month that the program would cost $83.5 billion this fiscal year when taking into account take-up through the summer and its extension since the fall.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s fall economic statement also estimated the program would cost almost $16.2 billion in the coming fiscal year that starts in April 2021.

Parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux’s office says in a report today that the figure for this year could be closer to $85.5 billion and nearly $13.9 billion next year.

The report says estimates about program take-up are subject to a degree of uncertainty about the path the pandemic will take and how it affects the economy overall.

The most recent figures for the program show the government has paid out just over $54 billion in subsidies designed to keep employees on payrolls at 368,240 companies.

The Canadian Press

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