The Manitoba government launched the Manitoba Back to Work This Summer Program; a hiring program that provides assistance to Manitoba businesses by covering half of the wages paid to designated employees over the summer.

The goal of this program is to encourage private sector employers to bring back their employees or hire new employees.

Program Details

Employers who meet the below criteria can receive reimbursement of 50% of the total wages actually paid to designated employees over the ten-week period from June 1, 2020 to August 30, 2020, to a maximum of $5,000 per worker. Employers can apply to receive funding for a maximum of five positions.

The funding is only applicable for wages paid and employees hired on or after the date the employer submitted its application for this program.

The reimbursement to the employer will be made as a lump sum payment once the employer provides proof of the payment of wages, which must be provided by October 1, 2020. If all employer obligations are met, payment will be made within 14 days of providing proof of payment of wages.

Employers can apply for a total of five funded positions combined between the Manitoba Back to Work This Summer Program and the Manitoba Summer Student Jobs Recovery Program. For employers who have already hired less than five positions under the Manitoba Summer Student Recovery Jobs Recovery Program, they may apply for new positions under the Manitoba Back to Work This Summer Program for the remaining balance.

Employers can apply to receive funding for all positions filled by workers legally entitled to work in Canada, including students, with the exception of the employer's immediate family members (parents, siblings and children).

All positions are eligible for funding, regardless of work hours (full time, part-time and casual) and term (permanent, contract and seasonal).

There is no maximum wage amount that can be reimbursed, although the maximum amount for reimbursement is $5,000 per worker.

The employer cannot request funding for existing workers, although the worker may have been previously laid off due to COVID-19, provided that they had not been rehired prior to June 18, 2020. If the employer is hiring a new employee to participate in this program, they cannot displace any existing workers.

Eligibility Requirements

Employers who meet all of the following criteria can apply to participate in the Manitoba Back to Work This Summer Program:

  • Must be in the private sector (charities, not-for-profit organizations and public-sector employers are ineligible for this particular program)
  • Must be a permanent, Manitoba-based business operating in the Province of Manitoba
  • Must have an active business number, business bank account and email address
  • Must be registered and in good standing with the Companies Office (not required for sole proprietors)
  • Cannot have received funding from another government program for the same positions that are to be subsidized under the Manitoba Back to Work This Summer Program. Examples of other programs which, if participated in by the employer for those same positions, would render them ineligible are the Canada Summer Job Program, Green Team, Canada, Emergency Wage Subsidy, and Manitoba Summer Student Recovery Jobs Program. However, participation in the Federal government's 10% Temporary Wage Subsidy for Employers does not disqualify employers from participating in the Manitoba Back to Work This Summer Program
  • Cannot be in arrears for taxes owing to the Province of Manitoba as of March 20, 2020 (before the state of emergency). This does not include businesses that have deferred taxes as a result of COVID-19 relief programs to defer tax remittances
  • Cannot be a multi-level marketing business
  • Cannot be a passive business or corporate entity
  • Cannot have an active Manitoba Business Start Loan Guarantee, a loan under the Manitoba Industrial Opportunities Program, or an agreement under The Community Revitalization Tax Increment Financing Act

Employer Obligations

  • Employers must follow all federal, provincial and municipal laws and regulatory requirements
  • Employer must observe the Province of Manitoba's COVID-19 public health guidelines in the workplace
  • Employers must keep complete and accurate payroll, employment and accounting records, financial documents and other records for each worker hired under this program

Application

  • Employers can submit their application to participate in the program online here
  • The deadline for participating in the program is August 1, 2020

Originally published June 29, 2020.

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