CERB recipient grateful for two month extension announced by the Federal Government

When 24-year-old Tyson Poulin was laid off from his job at Prairie Mobile Communications in late March, he wasn’t sure what was going to happen next.

His layoff came as a direct result of the closure of all non-essential businesses and services as the province entered a lockdown period, when COVID-19 cases began to take hold.

“I was a little bit panicked there,” he explained.  “I’m going to be out of work and I don’t have a way to provide for myself and make ends meet. But, thankfully the federal government –  they got the (Canada Emergency Response Benefit) in there.”

He was able to apply for the CERB relatively easily, and got his payments via direct deposit over the last few months. The money he has received is not much less than what he would normally make.

Poulin accessed his final payment Monday, June 15, and wasn’t sure what he was going to do next.

“I’ve been a little bit stressed out for the last 24 hours just trying to think, ‘So, do I apply for EI, do I gotta try and find some kind of part-time thing, part-time work in the meantime until I get my full-time job back?’ I mean, what do I gotta do?’ ”

The announcement of the two month CERB extension, he says, was very welcome news.

“Just hearing that news that hey, we’ve got you for another two months, it took a lot of weight off my shoulders.”

Poulin says he was actually supposed to be back at work on Monday, but because the province extended the state of emergency once again, he was told that his layoff would continue.

“I’m optimistic that I’ll be back to work in these next couple of months, but then again things can go back to….’We’ll have to keep you laid off for a little bit more.’ I’m almost expecting anything at this point.”

If it comes down to that, he’ll start exploring his options.

For now, he can still pay his bills and says he’s got a bit more breathing room to come up with a longer term plan if necessary.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story referred to Poulin as an employee of SaskTel. He is, in fact, an employee of Prairie Mobile — an authorized SaskTel dealer.