Feds Extend Business, Worker Aid to End of October

Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, responds to questions after a social housing funding announcement in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, on July 28, 2021. Freeland says the government is extending pandemic aid programs by an extra month beyond the previously planned end date. The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck

OTTAWA—The federal government is tapping the brakes on its plans to phase out pandemic aid programs this summer, deciding instead to freeze benefits at current levels and extend help by an extra month beyond the previously planned end date.

The decision means that wage and rent subsidies for businesses, and income support for workers out of a job or who need to take time off to care for family or stay home sick, will last until Oct. 23.