Nearly 100,000 students have demanded payment of benefits to CERB, which they claimed could soon receive a break during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under a council order passed quietly earlier this month, students will be able to deduct the amount they could raise under the COVID student aid program from the amount of CERB benefits they are asked to pay.
Carla Qualtrow, Minister for Employment, Labor Development and Disability Inclusion, said the government realized when it tracked the benefits payments it made during the pandemic that many students who received benefits under of the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), they actually had to apply for a different program – the Canadian Emergency Student Assistance (CESB).
While the CERB program pays benefits to workers who have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CESB is designed to help students who fail to find work due to the pandemic.
In some cases, students are told they have to pay thousands of dollars in payments from CERB that they have received, but it is too late to apply for student aid.
A pardon order passed by the cabinet on June 2 is intended to deal with what Qualtrough describes as “injustice.”
“If we find out that you owe money to CERB, you can say to yourself, well, if I knew I didn’t qualify for CERB, I would apply for student allowances because I know I qualify for it,” Qualtrow said in an interview. for CBC News. “You are the person we will help with this. You are the person for whom we are correcting this injustice.”
Qualtrough estimates that the move could help approximately 98,000 students.
There are no other orders for forgiveness at work: Qualtrough
While CERB’s payments were $ 2,000 a month, the student aid program paid $ 1,250 a month, Qualtrow said. She said this amount could now be used to reduce the amount some students have to pay.
“This will really significantly offset any amount that people will be deemed to pay for CERB.”
When the government first telegraphed its plans to address the problem in last December’s fiscal outlook, it had earmarked $ 67.9 million for debt relief.
Qualtrough said the adoption of the pardon order was delayed in part because the government was delaying the collection of CERB overpayments due to the COVID-19 Omicron wave.
“Because of Omicron, we decided not to actively pursue CERB’s debt at this time,” Qualtrow explained. “So now that we go back to the moment we track people who tell them what they may owe to CERB, we are now able to apply that pardon order at the same time.”
Watch: Roadside assistance for students asked to return money to CERB:
Roadside assistance for students asked to return the money to CERB
Carla Qualtrow, Minister for Employment, Workplace Development and the Inclusion of People with Disabilities, explains the new pardon order to help students who are required to pay CERB benefits.
To be eligible for a waiver order, a student must have applied for a CERB no later than September 30, 2020 and not receive benefits such as CESB, employment insurance, or provincial benefits for parental leave or maternity leave at the same time. They must also meet one of three criteria: they have not been able to work due to COVID-19; they were looking for work; they worked and earned $ 1,000 or less before taxes during the four-week CESB period they could apply for.
The Canadian Revenue Agency has set up a website describing the terms of the amnesty order and a link to the application form.
CBC News asked the CRA if they informed students of the pardon order when they sent the notice of repayment. Spokesman Christopher Doody said the CRA did not mention the potential break for students in its repayment notices because “there is no way to identify individuals who would meet the conditions of the amnesty order.”
If a student has already paid the CERB benefits he received, the difference will be reimbursed, Qualtrough said.
Qualtrow said the government currently has no plans for other pardon orders
While the government informed some CERB recipients that they had to pay the benefits, Qualtrow said the government was “desperately trying to make this as painless as possible for the people” and allow them to make payments for months or even years.
“We’re really trying to be as flexible as possible, trying to make sure that … it doesn’t do or disrupt someone’s ability to pay their bills,” Qualtrow said, adding that most people have applied in good faith for CERB benefits. , thinking that they are entitled to CERB.
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Teilan McRae-Yu, director of strategy for the Canadian Students’ Federation, said his group was pleased to see the help for students, but believed the government needed to go further.
“COVID and the cost of living crisis, along with rising tuition, have forced some students to choose between paying off an additional loan, basic needs and academic success.
One of the former students who received a repayment letter from the CRA in May was Joanna Clark. She initially applied for employment and instead received benefits from CERB. Now the primary school teacher is asked to return $ 2,000, which she does not have.
Clark said the government had not notified her of the pardon order. She hopes to qualify for it.
“If that means I don’t have to return $ 2,000, it will make a big difference.
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