OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says 240,000 people successfully applied for emergency relief amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the first few hours after the federal government opened the process this morning.

Only people with birthdays in the first three months of the year can apply for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit today.

The benefit offers $500-a-week payments for workers who have lost all their income.

Trudeau says changes to the program will come soon to offer help for people whose hours have been slashed but who are still working a little.

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