Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister, right, leaves a COVID-19 press conference at the Manitoba legislature in Winnipeg Thursday, March 26, 2020. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods)
WINNIPEG — The so-called “risk payment” to Manitoba’s frontline workers is going out to 78,442 people this week.
Premier Brian Pallister announced Wednesday the $120-million Risk Recognition Program amid COVID-19 will begin paying out in the coming days.
Each recipient will receive $1,377 after a 10 percent tax is deducted by the province to be remitted to the Canada Revenue Agency. The gross payment is valued at $1,530. An email notification will go out to notify workers that payment has been deposited.
“Many working Manitobans were exposed to on-the-job risks they’d never experienced prior to the pandemic and we can’t thank them enough for the roles they played in supporting all Manitobans through this difficult time,” said Pallister.
Payment recipients include 37,060 public-facing essential roles in retail services and lodging, 27,085 in health care, 9,325 in social services and 3,440 in transportation.
Pallister said about 10 percent of applications weren’t eligible for the program outside of the set parameters.
The province faced recent criticism after a delay in payments following the closure of applications last month. Pallister said every application needed to be reviewed by finance officials in order to determine final payment amounts.
The Manitoba Risk Recognition Program was offered to workers employed on a part-time or full-time basis from March 2, the start of the provincial state of emergency, until May 29.
Watch the announcement below:
