Social assistance recipients fear clawback over CERB

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This article was published 3/10/2020 (640 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitobans who collected emergency federal pandemic payments on top of provincial social assistance are scrambling to try to stop their benefits from being cut off.

Roughly 2,200 Manitobans were taken off provincial social assistance between April and July, a Families Department spokesperson said. That’s a five per cent drop in caseload. The province hasn’t specifically linked the decrease to people collecting the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), but a spokesperson acknowledged that’s likely the most common reason for people to be taken off social assistance in recent months.

The provincial government counts CERB payments as income for Manitobans on social assistance, and if their income is too high to be eligible for social assistance, they can be cut off. Others are receiving smaller social assistance cheques to account for the "overpayment."

CERB payments of $2,000 per month — which began in March and ended Sept. 26 — were meant to be used as emergency funds for Canadians who lost their jobs due to the pandemic and had earned at least $5,000 in employment income last year. Although people on disability or social assistance were not considered automatically ineligible for CERB, many people were able to access the federal funds even though they didn’t meet the requirements.

When Barry Smith applied for the federal COVID-19 emergency response benefit last spring, the 57-year-old North End resident was in panic mode.

"I got to stock... everything, because you’re terrified. It’s almost like, ‘all systems could go down," said Smith, who’s been living on social assistance for more than a decade after he broke his back. When the CERB money landed in his bank account, Smith said he spent it all on groceries, toilet paper, dog food, supplies for family and friends, an LG smartphone, which he called "a lifeline," and takeout food.

"(We) are the lowest income, our fridges aren’t packed. They want us to stay home, but we have to go to the store more often than other people to replenish because we’re out of food quick," he said.

"I ordered in so I could keep myself safe. I wouldn’t have been able to do that without CERB."

When he applied for the emergency benefit, he said he provided his birthdate and social insurance number to an automated phoneline run by the federal government. He said he figured if he wasn’t eligible, the deposits wouldn’t be authorized.

Six months later, Smith is panicking again after realizing his provincial cheques can be clawed back because he collected CERB. He’s worried his disability and Employment and Income Assistance (EIA) benefits will be cut off.

"I’m scared. I’m panicked. But do I regret taking the money? No. No, I helped people... people who didn’t get CERB, I helped them with stocking up on stuff," Smith said.

"And now I’m going to pay for it."

Manitoba, along with Alberta and Saskatchewan, decided CERB would count against people’s eligibility for provincial social assistance. Other provinces, such as B.C., allowed people to keep both federal and provincial payments. In the spring, the federal government lobbied provinces not to claw back payments from people who received CERB while on social assistance.

"(The province) will not recover or deny provincial benefits if someone received CERB, reported it to Employment Income Assistance, and was later found to be ineligible for the federal benefit. EIA may assess overpayments if a client received CERB benefits, but did not declare them to EIA," a Families department spokesperson wrote in an email.

The number of Canadians who received CERB even though they were ineligible is unknown. The Canada Revenue Agency has said those people will need to pay it back, and it will be assessed at tax time next year.

Manitobans who relied on EIA to pay their rent are worried about being evicted if they also received CERB, said Kirsten Bernas, chair of the Right to Housing coalition.

"I think it was a mistake to have counted CERB as income in the way that the province has decided to do it, because now we’re seeing the impact that that’s having on people’s ability to maintain their tenancies. It’s making very vulnerable people’s lives worse right now for having made that decision," she said.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay