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By Connor Gunn

Government contacting Canadians for CERB overpayments and debts

Mar 9, 2022 | 3:21 PM

OTTAWA, ON – Many Canadians who received the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) may have to pay some of their relief payment back.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has reportedly contacted thousands of Canadians to prove whether they did qualify for a CERB payment.

The CERB was aimed at providing financial support to employed and self-employed Canadians who were directly affected by COVID-19. Anyone who was eligible for regular Employment Insurance (EI) or sickness benefits could apply for the CERB starting March 15, 2020.

Those who received an “overpayment” from the CRA are required to pay those debts back to avoid legal and financial consequences.

Service Canada can provide people with details about why they have an overpayment, which can be found at Service Canada.

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The CRA CERB website states, “Ignoring your debt does not make it go away. If you can not pay in full now, no interest or penalty will be applied on your COVID-19 benefits overpayment debt. We can work with you to establish a payment arrangement.”

The CRA also states that if someone owing doesn’t agree with the overpayment, they can request reconsideration of an EI decision.

If anyone suspects fraudulent activity, they can find information on the employment insurance and fraud website.

If Canadians cannot pay in full or make the minimum monthly payment on their statement of account, contact the CRA.

The CRA adds if the person owing does not pay their debt, or refuses to cooperate, legal action may be taken, which could result in serious financial or legal consequences.

Before the CRA takes legal action, the agency will do the following:

• make 3 attempts to give verbal legal warning by phone
• send 1 written legal warning letter

For more information, read the legal warning about collection of debt.

A full breakdown of how to pay, where to pay, and what steps to take can be found at collection of COVID-19 overpayments.

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