EI is something you pay into as an insurance policy. CERB is an exceptional benefit but not welfare.Is there somewhere online that officially states it's not counted as such?
I'm in the same boat as the OP and had pretty much (at least psychologically) exempt myself from pursuing any income after getting laid off due to Corona and just resigned to burning through all my life savings for a while. Mostly out of fear my spouse will be billed and not really understanding the legal terminology. But I suppose with this thing looking like it will go on for a significant amount of time and savings dwindle, my worries have grown enough to look outside my comfort zone.
The confidence of scylla's response makes me want to believe it's not social assistance. But then what actually does count as social assistance? Is EI? GST cheque? Trillium benefit?
I tried looking at the wording for social assistance as it relates to sponsorship on several pages on the government of Canada website and it just left me more confused.
Apologies for my assumed naiveté. Any advice is thoroughly appreciated.