Question Period Note: Recipients of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit outside of Canada.

Some recipients of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit registered with a mailing address outside of Canada.

• From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Canada has supported Canadians with benefits like the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB).

• In some instances, recipients of the CERB may have been outside of Canada. This would include workers who normally live in Canada and are eligible for benefits but are temporarily not in Canada, or, a student who is temporarily abroad may have also been entitled to benefits.

• A post-payment verification is ongoing to identify individuals who received the CERB but who may not be eligible. Claimants who are found to have received the benefit improperly will be required to reimburse the payment.

• The Government is committed to the financial stewardship of its programs and has zero tolerance for fraud.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Canada has delivered emergency benefits rapidly to millions of Canadians in need, including the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB). The CERB was delivered jointly by Service Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency.

As part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Canada implemented an attestation-based approach to enable fast delivery of emergency benefits to millions of Canadians. Although it was understood that this created the potential for mis-payments (in error or deliberately through fraud), this approach was taken to ensure that income support went to individuals as quickly as possible.

CERB Recipients Outside of Canada

Some CERB recipients received COVID-19 pandemic response benefits while outside of Canada. Such individuals may be workers who normally live in Canada and are eligible for benefits who are temporarily not in Canada, or a student who is temporarily abroad, may be entitled to benefits.

In cases where claimants are found to be ineligible to receive the CERB following the post-payment verification process, they will be required to reimburse the overpayment.

Recent Media Coverage

On February 10, 2022, an article in the National Post indicated that the federal government sent nearly $12 million in CERB payments to people with foreign addresses in the first seven months of the pandemic. Documents tabled in the House of Commons last week following questions from Conservative MP Jamie Schmale revealed that 1,610 people received CERB despite applying with a mailing address outside of Canada.

Because they were able to apply for multiple months in a row, the government says it paid them a total of $11.9 million by the time the program was concluded and replaced by different benefits in September 2020. This is despite eligibility requirements for program clearly stating that "the benefit was available to workers residing in Canada who were at least 15 years old."

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