Finance Minister Bill Morneau says wage subsidies for large and small businesses will cost about $71 billion.
The program is expected to offset the cost of emergency benefits for workers, and reduce spending on those benefits to $24 billion.
The wage subsidy will be available to large and small businesses who have lost significant revenue due to COVID-19.
Morneau has encouraged businesses to rehire employees they may have laid off in the wake of COVID-19, and says the wage subsidy will be available in six weeks.
But Morneau says he’s open to extending the government’s wage subsidy program if the COVID-19 crisis lasts longer than expected.
The benefit, which will pay 75 per cent of struggling companies’ wages up to $847, is expected to last for three months.
But Morneau says the government will continue to reassess as the crisis unfolds and is open to adding new measures as necessary.