Jobs unfilled as frustrated employers blame COVID payouts

OTTAWA — Small-business owners say they cannot find enough workers willing to give up federal pandemic payments and take jobs, so they’re paring back reopening plans, potentially hampering the economic recovery.

Industry groups and business owners have warned for months that the Trudeau government’s Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) program in particular has hampered efforts to bring back workers, incentivizing some to decline work opportunities in favour of staying at home for reduced pay.

The CRB has been paying out $500 per week to unemployed workers. Ottawa is planning to reduce that to $300 per week in July.

“The government is empowering people to stay home and still get paid,” said Angelo Santorelli, president of

Schomberg, Ont.-based Trisan Construction.

Trisan employs around 180 people and pays its operators anywhere between $22 and $28 per hour, Santorelli said. But he has seen workers across that pay range decline work in order to continue receiving federal benefits.

“It’s not as if we’re paying them minimum wage,” he said.

He said he is worried about a longerterm “cultural shift” that persists well after the pandemic is over, in which workers seek out government supports over employment prospects.

Santorelli, who also heads the local chapter of the Chamber of Commerce, has heard similar complaints about workers declining jobs to collect benefits from numerous other firms, including one nearby company that remains short-staffed by 15 people. Business lobby groups have reported similar anecdotes.