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Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS)

Calculate your subsidy amount

When you apply for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS), you will be asked to enter amounts such as the number of eligible employees and gross payroll. You can determine these amounts and preview your subsidy claim, based on information you enter. The calculator is a tool to help you estimate the amount of your wage subsidy.

Before you calculate your subsidy, make sure you are eligible to apply, and determine which employees are eligible to be included in your calculation.

After you apply for the wage subsidy, your claim will be subject to verification.

On this page

How the subsidy is calculated

The CEWS amount is based on:

See the math behind the subsidy calculation

For each qualifying period, A-B-C+D, where:

A =

The total amount for all eligible employees for each week in the qualifying period, the greater of X or Y, where:

X =

The least of the following:

Y =

The least of the following:

B =
10% Temporary Wage Subsidy for Employers amount  (must be the eligible amount for the period, even if the employer did not reduce their related payroll remittances by that amount)
C =
Total of amounts received by employees through ESDC's Work-Sharing program for any weeks in the qualifying period
D =

If the employer has any eligible employees on leave with pay :

Total amount of employers premium (EI) and employer CPP or QPP contributions paid in respect to those employees for any weeks in the qualifying period

and

Total amount of employer premiums paid under the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP) in respect to those employees for any weeks in the qualifying period.

There is no limit on the total subsidy amount that an eligible employer may claim.

Input your information

You can use the calculator below to determine the subsidy you can expect for your organization. This calculator will help you to determine some specific line amounts (lines A – G) that you will need to enter into the CEWS application form. Use the calculator only for eligible employees. Do not include any amounts for ineligible employees.

Note: You must do a separate calculation and application for each payroll program (RP) account you have with the CRA.

How to use the calculator

  1. Calculate the basic CEWS using the provided spreadsheet
  2. Input the amounts from the spreadsheet on this page as indicated
  3. Enter the refund of employer contributions for any eligible employees on leave with pay
  4. Enter any amounts for eligible employees receiving a Work-Sharing benefit through Employment Insurance
  5. Enter the amount you are eligible for under the 10% Temporary Wage Subsidy for Employers program  for this claim period
  6. Print and save the information to enter in your future CEWS application

Note: You may be required to provide a full list of your employees and their Social Insurance Numbers (SIN) for verification after you apply. The CRA is not collecting or retaining any of the information you enter on this page or in the spreadsheet. These amounts are only used to help you determine the amount of CEWS you may be eligible to claim.

  1. Claim period

    Summary of Step 1

    • Claim period is:
  2. Gross payroll for eligible employees

    1. Understand how situations are calculated

      Employees who earn $1,129.33 a week or more

      The maximum subsidy is $847 per week. For employees earning $1,129.33 (or more) for each week in the claim period, the maximum weekly subsidy is ($1,129.33 x 75% = $847).

      The exception is for employees who are non-arm's length . The maximum weekly subsidy for these employees is the lesser of:

      • 100% of their weekly gross pay in respect of the claim period
      • 75% of their average weekly remuneration paid for the period of January 1 to March 15, 2020; or
      • The maximum subsidy of $847 ($1,129.33 x 75% = $847)
      Employees who earn $1,129.33 a week or more: Employee is arm's length
      Average weekly
      gross pay:
      January 1 to
      March 15, 2020       		Weekly
      gross pay
      during claim period       		CEWS basic amount
      per week       		CEWS basic amount
      per period
      (week x 4)
      $1,500 $1,500 $847 $3,388
      $500 $1,500 $847 $3,388
      $0 $1,500 $847 $3,388
      Employees who earn $1,129.33 a week or more: Employee is non-arm's length
      Average weekly
      gross pay:
      January 1 to
      March 15, 2020       		Weekly
      gross pay
      during claim period       		CEWS basic amount
      per week       		CEWS basic amount
      per period
      (week x 4)
      $1,500 $1,500 $847 $3,388
      $500 $1,500 $375 $1,500
      $0 $1,500 $0 $0
      Employees who earn $1,129.32 or less, and have not experienced a reduction in pay since before the crisis

      The subsidy for employees who have not experienced a reduction in pay is 75% of their weekly gross pay for the claim period.

      The exception is for employees who are non-arm's length . The maximum weekly subsidy for these employees is the lesser of:

      • 100% of their weekly gross pay in respect of the claim period;
      • 75% of their average weekly remuneration paid for the period of January 1 to March 15, 2020; or
      • The maximum subsidy of $847 ($1,129.33 x 75% = $847)
      Employees who earn $1,129.32 or less, and have not experienced a reduction in pay since before the crisis: Employee is arm's length
      Average weekly
      gross pay:
      January 1 to
      March 15, 2020       		Weekly
      gross pay
      during claim period       		CEWS basic amount
      per week       		CEWS basic amount
      per period
      (week x 4)
      $1,000 $1,000 $750 $3,000
      $500 $1,000 $750 $3,000
      $0 $1,000 $750 $3,000
      Employees who earn $1,129.32 or less, and have not experienced a reduction in pay since before the crisis: Employee is non-arm's length
      Average weekly
      gross pay:
      January 1 to
      March 15, 2020       		Weekly
      gross pay
      during claim period       		CEWS basic amount
      per week       		CEWS basic amount
      per period
      (week x 4)
      $1,000 $1,000 $750 $3,000
      $500 $1,000 $375 $1,500
      $0 $1,000 $0 $0
      Employees who earn $1,129.32 or less, and have experienced a reduction in pay since before the crisis

      The subsidy for employees who have experienced a reduction in pay and earn $1,129.32 or less, is the lesser of:

      • 100% of their weekly gross pay in respect of the claim period;
      • 75% of their average weekly remuneration paid for the period of January 1 to March 15, 2020; or
      • The maximum subsidy of $847 ($1,129.33 x 75% = $847)
      Employees who earn $1,129.32 or less, and have experienced a reduction in pay since before the crisis: Employee is arm's length
      Average weekly
      gross pay:
      January 1 to
      March 15, 2020       		Weekly
      gross pay
      during claim period       		CEWS basic amount
      per week       		CEWS basic amount
      per period
      (week x 4)
      $1,500 $1,000 $847 $3,388
      $1,000 $500 $500 $2,000
      Employees who earn $1,129.32 or less, and have experienced a reduction in pay since before the crisis: Employee is non-arm's length
      Average weekly
      gross pay:
      January 1 to
      March 15, 2020       		Weekly
      gross pay
      during claim period       		CEWS basic amount
      per week       		CEWS basic amount
      per period
      (week x 4)
      $1,500 $1,000 $847 $3,388
      $1,000 $500 $500 $2,000

    2. Calculate the values using the spreadsheet

      The calculator spreadsheet is improving based on your feedback. For accuracy, please check that you made your calculations with the most recent version.

      Download the calculation spreadsheet (Excel)

      Current version: 2020-4

      Version updates
      Version updates
      Release
      date      		 Version Description
      Version
      2020-4
      • Text updates (change does not affect calculation)
      Version
      2020-3
      • Batch rows moved to a separate sheet
      • Layout updates to make the spreadsheet easier to complete
      • More detailed instructions on how to input amounts and avoid errors
      • Rounding made more accurate
      Version
      2020-2      		 On the “Instructions and results” worksheet, the "Total Gross Payroll" label has been renamed to "Total eligible remuneration", so it matches the corresponding web application form label
      Version
      2020-1      		 Initial worksheet

      (If you don't have Excel, you can open the spreadsheet in free solutions like Google Sheets, Numbers or OpenOffice.)

      Note: If you have an employee that also works for one or more related eligible employers, the combined total CEWS amount that can be claimed for that employee between yourself and any related eligible employers for each week is $847. The calculations in the spreadsheet may need to be manually adjusted if you have such employees. A related eligible employer is any eligible employer that you do not deal with on an arm’s length basis.

      Example of an adjustment for an employee working for related entities

      Westside Restaurant Ltd (WRL) and Eastside Bar Ltd (EBL) are both owned by the same person. Mary works full time at WRL but also works weekends at EBL. Mary earns $1000 per week at WRL and another $300 per week at EBL.

      Using the spreadsheet calculator, WRL determines the CEWS amount related to Mary for the week is $750 (75% of $1000). When EBL uses the spreadsheet calculator it shows a CEWS amount of $225 (75% of $300) for Mary. However, the total of those two amounts ($750 + $225) is $975 – which exceeds the maximum of $847 by $128.

      The claim amount of WRL or EBL will need to be manually reduced by a total of $128 so that the total CEWS amount related to Mary does not exceed the $847 maximum for that week.

    3. Input the values from the spreadsheet

      Once the spreadsheet is complete, refer to the instructions and results sheet for the final values.

      $ .00
      $ .00

    Summary of Step 2

    • Line A Number of eligible employees =
    • Line B Total eligible remuneration paid =
    • Line C Basic CEWS =
  3. Premiums and contributions

    As part of the CEWS, employers can claim a 100% refund for the employer-paid part of contributions made on behalf of eligible employees who are furloughed (on leave with full or partial pay ) for any full week in the claim period, and for which the employer is eligible to claim the CEWS for those employees.

    These employer-paid contributions include:

    • Employment Insurance (EI)
    • the Canada Pension Plan (CPP)
    • the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP), and
    • the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP)

    Indicate the total amount of premiums or contributions during the selected period. Enter $0 if not applicable.

    $ .00
    $ .00

    Summary of Step 3

    • Line D Employer’s EI and QPIP premiums payable on salary paid to furloughed employees (for the claim period) =
    • Line E Employer’s CPP and QPP contributions payable on salary paid to furloughed employees (for the claim period) =
  4. Deductions

    10% Temporary Wage Subsidy for Employers amount 

    $ .00
    $ .00

    Summary of Step 4

    • Line F Amount eligible to be claimed under the 10% Temporary Wage Subsidy for Employers (for the claim period) =
    • Line G Amounts received by eligible employees under ESDC's Work-Sharing benefit program (for the claim period) =
  5. Get results

    After completing the four steps above, you can now calculate the results.

Arm's length and non-arm's length

Arm’s length
Generally, an arm’s-length employee includes any employee who does not own the business (or in the case of a corporation, control the corporation) and is not a member of that person’s immediate family.
Non-arm's length (not at arm's length)
A non-arm’s-length employee is someone who owns the business (or in the case of a corporation, controls the corporation) or is part of that person’s immediate family.

Read more about non-arm’s-length relationships

Leave with full or partial pay

In general, an employee is considered to be on leave with pay if that employee is paid by the employer but does not perform any work during that time. This refund is not available for eligible employees that are on leave with pay for only a portion of a week.

10% Temporary Wage Subsidy for Employers amount

Line F –10% Temporary Wage Subsidy reduction for employers

The 10% Temporary Wage Subsidy for Employers reduces the amount of income tax source deductions that employers have to remit to CRA on behalf of their employees by up to 10% of their remuneration (to a maximum of $1,375 per employee up to $25,000 per employer). Many employers that qualify for the CEWS also qualify for the 10% Temporary Wage Subsidy for Employers.

Under the new rules, the government made the 10% Temporary Wage Subsidy work automatically by creating a new law that says that employers who qualify are “deemed” to have sent in too much money to the CRA for income tax source deductions on behalf of their employees. Some employers took advantage of this right away by reducing the amount of income tax that they sent to the CRA on behalf of employees. Other employers have not done anything yet.

CEWS and the 10% Temporary Wage Subsidy for Employers are intended to provide total support of up to 75% for payroll, not 75% + 10%. If you did not reduce the source deductions you remitted to the CRA, but you were entitled to the 10% Temporary Wage Subsidy for Employers, the CRA will treat you as having over-remitted your employee source deductions (so that normally you will be entitled to a refund). The CRA will require you to fill out a self-identification form, that will be published in the coming months, in order for us to credit your payroll program account by the amount of the subsidy. In all cases, if you are eligible for the 10% Temporary Wage Subsidy, you must put the amount that you are eligible for in the box for line F, whether or not you have taken advantage of it.

Read more: FAQ – Temporary Wage Subsidy for Employers

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