Question Period Note: PUBLIC ACCOUNTS OF CANADA 2025 FOR EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT CANADA

What overpayments were established and collected for the COVID-19
benefits, which include the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), Canada
Recovery Benefit (CRB), Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB), Canada
Emergency Student Benefit (CESB), Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB),
Canada Worker’s Lockdown Benefit (CWLB), and the Employment Insurance
Emergency Response Benefit (EI-ERB) for 2024-2025?

The Government implemented an attestation-based approach to enable fast
delivery of emergency benefits to millions of Canadians.
 The Government understood when the CERB and later the CRB programs
were launched that this approach created the potential for some individuals
to receive overpayments in error, and in some cases deliberately through
fraud. This approach was taken to ensure that income support went to
vulnerable Canadians and residents as quickly as possible. It chose to
verify the eligibility of CERB and CRB recipients through strong post?payment integrity measures that were undertaken by the Canada Revenue
Agency (CRA) and Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).
 Although individuals who have been determined to have received these
COVID-19 benefit payments in error are required to repay the amounts to
which they were not eligible, there are no penalties or interest added to
these debts.
 The Government is committed to ensuring financial responsibility and
stewardship, while ensuring that low-income Canadians are not placed in
financial hardship.
 ESDC aims to fulfill its legal obligations by ensuring all reasonable
collection efforts are made before writing off debts, thereby maintaining
public trust in government programs. To improve recovery, a streamlined,
risk-based approach was implemented, focusing on high-probability
accounts and leveraging income tax set-offs as an effective method for
reducing debts. Included in the $10.0B allowance are deceased, insolvent,
and vulnerable individuals.

Recovery of debts
If the Minister (ESDC) determines that a person has received an erroneous benefit or an
overpayment, that person is required to repay the excess amount promptly as per the respective
Act under which they received the benefit. Such erroneous payments or overpayments are
considered a debt owed to His Majesty from the date of payment, and the Minister can recover
this debt from the date it was assessed. The debtor is required to repay the amount, prior to the
overpayment reaching limitation.
Beneficiaries who received a payment in error are required to repay the benefits for which they
were determined to be ineligible, but no penalty or interest are added. Under the Financial
Administration Act, the CRA and ESDC have an obligation to take timely and cost-effective
collection actions to pursue amounts owed to the Government, including debts resulting from
CERB and CRB overpayments. Suspected cases of deliberate fraud are being investigated and
addressed as they arise.
The CRA is collaborating with clients to establish a repayment arrangement, considering their
ability to pay. This approach takes into account the financial circumstances of the person,
including deferral of debt for those who cannot repay at that time. Canadians also have access
to formal hardship assessments where repayment is not financially possible.
Also, the collection efforts was streamlined for all COVID-19 benefits programs focused on
accounts with a higher probability of resolution. The CRA has committed to a risk-based
approach focusing on debt with the greater likelihood of recovery. Efforts are not being targeted
towards low-income population, insolvent individuals or deceased individuals. However,
benchmarking against past collection rates is challenging due to the unique nature of these
programs. Income tax reimbursements and certain tax credits are applied as set-offs against
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debts to the Crown where possible. Focusing on set-offs, figures indicate that income tax set?offs have been an effective means of reducing debt.
As of March 2025, there was $12.0B in COVID benefits overpayments. An allowance for
doubtful accounts as of March 31, 2025 of $10.0B was recorded in the financial statements

The Government of Canada created the Canada Emergency
Response Benefit (CERB) in response to the unprecedented number
of job losses across the country as public health measures were
imposed, businesses were shut down and schools were closed due
to the global COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the CERB program,
those that self-identified as workers were able to apply for the EI
Emergency Response Benefit (EI-ERB). CERB was delivered on
behalf of ESDC by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), and EI-ERB
was delivered by ESDC.
 The Canada Recovery Benefits were established in the fall of 2020
after the CERB benefit period ended. These benefits were to provide
assistance to the many people that continued to feel the impacts of
COVID-19 pandemic issues. This was also delivered on behalf of
ESDC, by the CRA.
 The consolidated financial statements of the Government of Canada
for the fiscal year 2024-2025 include an outstanding accounts
receivable of $12.0B regarding the COVID-19 Benefits with an
allowance of $10.0B leaving net receivables of $2.0B. These include
the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), the Employment
Insurance Emergency Response Benefit (EI-ERB) and the Canada
Recovery Benefits (CRB) overpayments.
 The CRA has committed to a risk-based approach for collection
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activities, focusing on debts with the greater likelihood of recovery.
ESDC has a legal obligation to ensure that all reasonable collection
action has been taken, and all possible means of collection have
been exhausted, prior to write-offs.
 All debtors are expected to repay their overpayments, since it is
considered a debt owed to His Majesty.