Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says large and small businesses, non-profits, and charities will all be eligible for a 75-per-cent subsidy on wages announced last week.

The money is meant to cushion the blow from the COVID-19 pandemic. Speaking on Monday, Trudeau said employers who’s revenues are down at least 30 per cent will be able to apply for the subsidy.

The subsidy will cover up to $847 a week, he said, noting the size of the company will not be a qualifying factor.

“This is about hardworking employees across the country. It’s about making sure that you have money to buy groceries right now and a job to come back to later once we are through this,” said Trudeau. “Every business of every size is having to make some difficult decisions because of COVID-19 and that’s why the number of employees is not the eligibility criteria we’ve chosen.”

The subsidy is retroactive to March 15, and Trudeau is asking companies that get the subsidy to rehire workers who they’ve laid off, while ensuring that all the money through the program goes to employees.

“Minister [Bill] Morneau and Minister [Mary] Ng are working hard to give companies the background documents explaining the technical details of this measure,” he said. “On that note, I want to thank the public service who is working around the clock to get this done.”

He’s asking companies that can pay their employees without federal help to keep doing so, noting that companies abusing the federal financial aid packages will face serious consequences.

A $107 billion financial assistance and stimulus package has also passed through Parliament.

– With files from the Canadian Press