Ontario's COVID-19 paid sick days to extend into 2022: sources

Premier Doug Ford's government is extending its COVID-19 sick pay program beyond its scheduled expiry at the end of December, CBC News has learned. 

Ontario's COVID-19 Worker Income Protection Benefit will be extended to July 31, 2022, according to senior government sources. The maximum number of paid sick days that each employee can take over the course of the program will remain capped at three. 

The extension comes with Ontario averaging more new daily cases of COVID-19 than at any point in the past six months. 

The program requires employers to provide all their employees with up to three paid days off for a range of reasons related to the pandemic, including getting vaccinated against COVID-19, showing symptoms, or caring for a sick family member. The government reimburses employers who do not normally give their workers sick pay with up to $200 per employee per day. 

The program was launched in April as Ontario struggled through the third wave of the pandemic, following months of pressure from public health experts and workers' rights advocates. It was originally due to expire in September, but the province later extended it to the end of 2021.  

Employers have submitted claims for more than 235,000 employees and have been reimbursed more than $80 million in wages, according to statistics published by the Ministry of Labour. 

The government budgeted $1 billion for the program, so it hasn't used even one-tenth of its allocation. 

Earlier on Tuesday, the opposition New Democrats pressed the government in the Legislature on paid sick days. 

"Three weeks from now, workers across Ontario will be left without any paid sick days," said Doly Begum, the New Democrat MPP for Scarborough-Southwest, referring to the Dec. 31 expiry of the program.  

"Taking away paid sick days as we are on the brink of another wave right before this hectic holiday season is beyond cruel," said Begum. 

The government's House Leader, Paul Calandra, hinted the sick pay program would be extended but stopped short of committing to it.

"It's the right program and it has made a big difference in the lives of our essential workers across this province," said Calandra. "We will, of course, continue to be there for the workers of the province of Ontario, not only during COVID, but as we have always been."