Question Period Note: Q-22 CANADA EMERGENCY REPSONSE BENEFIT (CERB) WITH CRA

The National Post is reporting that “more than 800,000 ineligible people received CERB”. Is this accurate? If so, can the Minister explain how this has happened?

• The Canada Emergency Response Benefit provided temporary income support to employed Canadians and to self-employed workers who were directly affected by COVID-19.

• Mr. Speaker, my honourable colleague is mistaken when he says that individuals who did not file their 2019 income tax returns are not eligible for the CERB.

• The reality is that, to be eligible, applicants were never required to file an income tax return to receive the CERB.

• Total income for the 2019 tax year had no impact on eligibility for CERB payments; the only exception is that minimum income from employment or self-employment must be $5,000 to ensure that applicants were indeed workers.

• Eligible income was determined by taking into account the fact that a person earned a minimum of $5,000 (before taxes) in the past 12 months, or in 2019, from one of the following sources: employment, self-employment, or provincial benefits related to maternity or paternity leave.

• Mr. Speaker, I encourage my honourable colleague to consult the complete list of CERB eligibility criteria on the “Who can apply” web page before accusing honest people of defrauding the government.

In October 2020, The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) received an Order Paper Question (OPQ) from Parliament, Q-22 from Mr. Ruff MP (Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound):

With regard to recipients of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit: what is the number of recipients based on 2019 income, broken down by federal income tax bracket?

The response, signed by the Minister, was tabled in the House on November 16, 2020 (entered the public domain):

Taxable Income by 2019 Federal Income Tax Bracket Number of Applicants
Less than $47,630 3,844,090
$47,630 - $95,259 563,700
$95,259 - $147,667 90,720
$147,667 - $210,371 23,900
$210,371 and over 14,070
Not filed 823,580
Total 5,360,050

Notes:

1. CERB data are as of September 23, 2020 and are subject to change as more applications are received.
2. Taxable income is calculated using the taxable income assessed for 2019 tax year, line 26000 of the Income Tax and Benefit Return.
3. Taxable income data for the 2019 tax year are as of September 25, 2020.
4. Data for the 2019 tax year are incomplete and are subject to change as more returns are (re)assessed.
5. ‘Not filed’ consists of CERB beneficiaries whose T1 return was not on file for tax year 2019.
6. Figures are stated for applicants who applied for the CERB through Canada Revenue Agency’s My Account portal and the Interactive Voice Response system. These numbers also include manual applications.
7. All counts are rounded to the nearest ten. The sum of the data may not add to the total, due to rounding or suppression.
8. Data presented in the table are for applicants who applied through the CRA only, and do not include any applicants who applied through ESDC.

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