The city of Hamilton had about 12 per cent of its residents receiving the Canada Emergency Response Benefit ( CERB) last year.
An analysis of federal data by The Canadian Press shows that the city had on average 57,527 recipients during each four-week pay period for the pandemic aid.
Over its lifespan between late March and October of last year, the CERB paid out nearly $82 billion to 8.9 million people in Canada whose incomes crashed either because they saw their hours slashed or lost their jobs.
In the first four-week period, there were 101,330 people in the city receiving the CERB, and the figure fell from there.
There were 69,930 in the second period, 58,830 in the third, 52,900 in the fourth, 44,030 in the fifth, 40,560 in the sixth, and 35,110 in the final month before a trio of new benefits and a revamped employment insurance system replaced CERB.
The figures come from federal data The Canadian Press obtained under the Access to Information Act that provides the most detailed picture yet of where the aid went.