Employees who choose not to get vaccinated won't be eligible for Canada's Worker Benefit if lockdown restrictions keep them out of a job.

The Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit would provide financial support of $300 a week to employees who are unable to work or lose their jobs due to government imposed public health lockdowns. 

On October 21, Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland announced that the benefit would take effect as of October 24, just in case there more lockdowns in the future. 

"Individuals whose loss of income or employment is due to their refusal to adhere to a vaccine mandate would not be able to access the benefit," the government says on their website. 

Aside from those who are unvaccinated, the Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit has narrow guidelines for those who are actually eligible to recieve it.

The benefit will be strictly available to employees who can no longer work as a direct result of government-imposed public health lockdown.

As an example, this might include people working in retail, construction, or personal care services. 

The benefit is also available for workers who aren't eligible for Employment Insurance and, for those who are, as long as they are not paid both benefits at the same time. 

The government says worker benefits will be available until May 7, 2022 and accessible for the entire duration of a possible lockdown until that date. 

The Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit is meant to replace the previous government income support program called the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB).