The Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) is about to go quietly into the night.

After six months of financial assistance as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government is phasing out the CERB in favour of an amended employment insurance program and several new emergency benefits.

Over 8.5 million Canadians haved accessed the CERB, and many will still need financial assistance going into this next phase.

As we carefully and gradually reopen parts of our economy, we are transitioning to more nimble and flexible programs that will help get Canadians back to work, while ensuring we are able to quickly respond to any further labour market impacts due to the ongoing pandemic, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion Carla Qualtrough said in a release.