Liberals Survive First Confidence Vote as COVID-19 Benefit Bill Gets Unanimous Support

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rises during a sitting of the Special Committee on the COVID-19 Pandemic in the House of Commons in Ottawa on July 22, 2020. Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

OTTAWA—The House of Commons has unanimously passed legislation authorizing new benefits for workers left jobless or underemployed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the process, the minority Liberal government has survived its first pandemic-era confidence test, assuring at least for now that there will be no election as COVID-19 cases spike across the country.