What this grant opportunity offers
The Worker Retention Grant provides funding to employers with an approved and implemented Work-Sharing agreement. Employers can use this funding to provide a weekly income top-up to workers who have reduced hours and are taking training while receiving Work-Sharing Employment Insurance (EI) benefits.
This additional top-up support will help workers keep their income closer to their normal wages while they participate in training opportunities. It will boost their income while on Work-Sharing, increasing their income replacement rate from 55% to about 70%.
On this page
Objective of this grant opportunity
The Worker Retention Grant aims to:
- support greater workforce retention while businesses retool and adapt by:
- encouraging greater use of the Work-Sharing Program in all sectors, including businesses in high tariff-exposed sectors (for example, steel, softwood lumber, auto parts)
- helping workers maintain employment while receiving a larger proportion of their total income through receipt of a top-up to their Work-Sharing benefits
- supporting employers to retain their skilled workforce to support recovery and better readiness for future business opportunities
- increasing uptake of training for workers while on Work-Sharing to help improve their resiliency during an adjustment period
- creating a concrete incentive for employers to provide employees to take part in training opportunities while participating in Work-Sharing to remain resilient in the labour market
Glossary
Here is a list of key terms used within this application guide.
- Approved Work-Sharing Agreement
- A signed and implemented Work‑Sharing agreement is considered active when a utilization report has been submitted within the last 6 weeks, and the last 6 submitted utilization reports do not all indicate 0% utilization.
- Average/Normal Weekly Earnings
- Typically, the average weekly gross earnings correspond to the regular weekly pay, before deductions. In addition to wages paid for normal and overtime hours, the weekly earnings can also include:
- regular shift premiums
- a percentage paid as vacation pay included with each pay
- commissions paid at regular intervals
- Cross-owned Affiliate
- When "one company can use or direct the assets of the other company in essentially the same way it can use its own assets. Normally, this standard will be met where there is a majority voting ownership interest (50% +1) between 2 corporations or through common ownership of 2 or more corporations."
- Employment Insurance Benefit Rate
- Please refer to the EI Regular Benefits - How much you could receive website. For the purpose of determining the initial amount of funding, we will consider the gross weekly EI benefit rate (before any garnishments are deducted or family supplements are added).
- Implementation date
- The implementation date is related to the Work-Sharing agreement, the Sunday of the week in which all members of the Work‑Sharing unit first experienced at least a 10% reduction in their normal work hours, as reported by the employer to ESDC.
- Implemented Work-Sharing Agreement
- A Work-Sharing agreement is considered implemented when the employer has notified ESDC of the week in which all members of the Work-Sharing unit have had a minimum 10% reduction in work.
- Training
- A course or program of instruction.
- Work-sharing employer
- An employer who currently has an implemented and approved Work-Sharing agreement with ESDC.