On May 20, 2021, the Province amended the Employment Standards Act (B.C.) to require employers to provide employees with up to three days of paid leave if they needed to stay home for specified COVID-19 related reasons. Although employers were generally required to pay the employees’ wages, eligible employers were potentially entitled to be reimbursed by the B.C. government for part or all of such sick leave payments pursuant to the Province’s Sick-Leave Reimbursement Program (“SLRP”).
CRA stated:
Where a provincial government sponsors a program that is designed to have employers provide sick leave payments directly to employees, it is our view that the amount of the payment received by the employee would be included in their employment income under subsection 5(1) … .