Question Period Note: Service Canada Notices of Debt

What is Service Canada doing with regard to Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) debt notifications?

The Government continues to support Canadians throughout the pandemic.
When Canadians first applied for the CERB with Service Canada, they received an advance payment of $2000.

However, some Canadians went back to work or did not receive CERB long enough to reconcile these advance payments.

Notices of Debt are being sent to Canadians who have outstanding balances.
While I cannot comment on specific cases, individuals may contact Service Canada for an explanation of the decision or to provide additional information that may modify the decision.

Flexible repayment plans can be discussed with the Canada Revenue Agency.

CERB Advance Payments

Many clients who applied for the CERB through Service Canada before June 14, 2020 received a $2,000 advance payment of four weeks, which was issued to get money in pockets as quickly as possible. CERB applicants with claims processed on or after June 14, 2020 did not receive an advance payment of $2,000.

The maximum amount of CERB that clients should have received is $500 per week during the period for which they were eligible. To confirm eligibility with Service Canada, clients should have completed reports every two weeks.
To reconcile this advance payment for Canadians who remained eligible for CERB, in the summer of 2020, the Department applied this advance against other payment periods in June, July and August (for weeks 13 and 14 as well as for weeks 18 and 19 of their claim), where recipients saw an interruption in payments in order to apply the money paid to weeks of eligibility. If recipients were not entitled to and/or did not receive CERB payments for at least 20 weeks, some or all of the advance payment remained as an outstanding balance owing. The advance payments to 1M clients were fully recovered.
As of April 29, 2022, 754,300 clients who have an outstanding overpayment as a result of the advance CERB payment, have received a Notice of Debt containing the outstanding balance with repayment instructions and an outline of their appeal rights.

Recent Media Coverage

On May 9, 2022, a media article in CBC news (Nova Scotia) expressed the frustration of two New Brunswick women who had received a Notice of Debt notifying them that they owed $2,000 due to a CERB overpayment which impacted their maternity benefits. In both situations the women expressed their frustration in negotiating a repayment plan with the Canada Revenue Agency and would like to see more CERB repayment options that take into consideration that their income is already reduced by the fact they are on maternity benefits.

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