The Canadian Journalism Collective has released an update on the payment timeline and the verification process.
Introducing the Verification Team
This process is being overseen by CJC-CCJ using a process designed by Tandem Inc. The verification is being conducted by Tandem and Populus.
Tandem is a consulting firm dedicated to supporting the growth of purpose-driven organizations. Specializing in Finance & Accounting, Strategy & Operations, and People & Culture, Tandem’s team offers a circle of support, bringing expertise to identify and implement strategies and systems that ensure efficient operations, predictable cash flow, and consistent quality – all grounded in practices that nurture impact and collective well-being.
Populus is an accounting, administrative and financial management cooperative serving its members to help support and create resilient non-profits, coops and social enterprises.
Is My News Business Eligible to Receive Funds?
Work is underway to assess the eligibility of applicants. Between mid-February and early-March CJC-CCJ will inform news businesses whether their news business is eligible and provide an initial payment to those whose eligibility has been verified.
When can I Expect to Receive Funds?
Initial Payment
Between mid-February and mid-March news businesses will receive a determination letter indicating whether the news business is eligible to receive funds. Eligible news businesses will also receive the recipient agreement and a request for their banking information. Payment will follow two weeks after the CJC receives your signed recipient agreement and banking information.
Second Payment
May through August – Tandem and Populus will verify the hours claimed by eligible news businesses. At this point news businesses will receive the balance of funds they are owed based on the total number of verified employee hours.
Final Payment
Funds will be held in reserve for any news businesses who dispute their eligibility or the number of verified employee hours. Once all disputes are resolved and businesses who won their disputes are paid out, any remaining funds will be distributed to eligible news businesses. The timeline for this payment will depend on the CRTC’s dispute resolution timeline.
How Much Will I Receive in the Initial Payment?
To ensure we don’t overpay news businesses before CJC-CCJ has verified the number of employee hours, this payment will be partial. The remainder of the funds your business is entitled to will be dispersed after CJC-CCJ has fully verified employee hours.
You can use the formula below to estimate how much you will receive in the initial payment:
Publishers
[number of hours claimed] x $6.90 x 0.6 = your initial payment
Broadcasters
[number of hours claimed] x $3.40 x 0.6 = your initial payment
This is an estimated minimum payment based on the assumption that all news businesses are eligible to receive funds. As news businesses are determined to be ineligible their hours will be removed from the pool of funds, increasing the payment per employee hour.
If you have questions or would like to share your thoughts, please contact info@cjc-ccj.ca.
