This message is being sent on behalf of
Robert Hardy, Treasurer and Shailene Caparas, Director of Finance
Grace be unto you, and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ!
We are pleased to announce that the government has made some favourable revisions to the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) in response to concerns raised by several organizations. One of the concerns raised is the measurement of the revenue reduction criterion for multiple employers that have a centralized payroll system (ie., the Diocese of New Westminster providing payroll services to several parishes/employers under a single CRA payroll account).
The legislation that was passed now allows the Diocese of New Westminster and its parishes (“Group”) to consolidate revenue for purposes of determining the Group’s eligibility for subsidy. If our Group suffered at least a 15% drop in “qualifying revenue” in Period 1 (March 2020 vs. March 2019 or the average of January/February 2020), the Group will be eligible for a subsidy – 75% of “eligible remuneration”.
An urgent need from all parishes
Once all parish revenue information is received, diocesan staff will notify you about the eligibility results for CEWS along with your respective share in CEWS.
Since the Diocese is subsidizing 100% of clergy’s salary and benefits in April and May, the share of parishes on government subsidies with respect to clergy salary and benefits will be subject to further discussion and approval by Diocesan Council.
Qualifying Revenue
"Qualifying revenue"
includes most forms of revenue, excluding revenues from non-arm’s length persons. The government provides the option to include or exclude government grants, if any. What this means for our Group is that qualifying revenue will include
all
external revenues earned in Canada (ie., all donations, bequests, grants received from the Diocese of New Westminster, the Anglican Foundation or other organizations, investment income and losses, among others).
Subsidy Amount – 75% of Eligible Remuneration on Eligible Period
The CEWS will amount to 75% of the total “eligible remuneration” paid to employees (clergy and lay staff) from March 15-June 6, 2020 which will be the greater of:
· 75% of remuneration paid, up to a maximum of $847 per week
·
The amount of remuneration paid, up to a maximum of $847 per week or 75% of the clergy and lay staff
baseline remuneration
, whichever is less.
“Eligible remuneration”
includes salary, wages and other remuneration like taxable benefits paid to eligible clergy and staff. This represents all taxable compensation amounts for which the Diocese is required to withhold income taxes. From the Diocesan cost calculation sheet, this includes salary, car allowance, and taxable benefits such as group life insurance and dependent life benefits. Other benefits such as regular pension, long-term disability, heath care, counselling and self-insured death benefits are not considered “eligible remuneration”.
“Baseline Remuneration”
is essentially the
pre-crisis
remuneration of employees (clergy and lay staff), and is the average weekly remuneration paid to them between January 1 and March 15, excluding any seven-day periods for which clergy or lay staff was not paid.
The subsidy is designed to encourage eligible employers to pay clergy and staff at least 75% of their
pre-crisis
wages because they can recover it through the CEWS.
There is no cap on the amount of CEWS an employer can claim.
Interaction with 10% Temporary Wage Subsidy (TWS)
Any benefits received from the 10% TWS “would generally” reduce the amount available to be claimed under the CEWS in the same period.
How to Apply
The Diocese will take care of
subsidy applications for all clergy and lay staff under the Diocesan payroll account, and will proportionately share it out to parishes.
If your parish has its own payroll account, please apply separately for CEWS for clergy and lay staff under your payroll account. The application can be done through the CRA’s My Business Account portal.
