Return to work plan needed for economy to recover quickly, says research group

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — With millions of people sitting at home after layoffs related to COVID-19, a think tank is arguing for a plan for getting people back to work because putting it off will come at a cost.

The C.D. Howe Institute says it’s not too soon to have that conversation. Even though it’s a sensitive one, Parisa Mahboubi, a senior policy analyst with the institute, says it’s necessary.

“The process of opening the economy isn’t going to happen over one night. It has to be planned in advance and it has to be carefully, basically, planned,” she says.

Mahboubi says for people who had low pay before, the government benefits could act as a disincentive to return to work in cases where there won’t be much difference in income.

“Talking about this is actually something important and needs to be done and it has to start today,” she says.

And as the economy starts to reopen, the recovery will go at a faster pace if people are applying for jobs as they become available, “it’s really important to make sure that the job opportunities are getting seen as soon as they become available,” Mahboubi says.

While the group wants to see gaps filled in the response program, it doesn’t want this to be done by extending the criteria of the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit. Instead, new programs should be used to help people who are still ineligible.

The institute also points to communication as being the key to the right response since some people could be using the CERB when they shouldn’t be.

Mahboubi argues taxpayers and future generations will be on the hook for paying for these benefits, and the sooner we can have people return to work, the better.

“It’s going to impose significant cuts on government and eventually it’s going to be passed onto Canadians through taxes.”

The institute wants measures in place to encourage a return to work — one proposal is that workers must accept offers to return to work if previous employers offer them a similar wage as before.

Disincentives like clawbacks are another option suggested by the institute.

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