CERB repayment fiasco risks ruining a modern approach to federal transfers

By David Macdonald
When COVID-19 hit in 2020, the federal government responded by doing something it hadn’t done at scale in a long time – deliver cash transfers in entirely new ways. As the feds doled out relief funds, more government support went to businesses ($176 billion) through programs like the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) than went to individuals ($151 billion) through programs like the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB).
Now, two years after the start of the p