CERB repayment could leave vulnerable N.W.T. residents at risk, say advocates

Advocates in the Northwest Territories and beyond say the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), a federal program meant to keep people above water during COVID-19 shutdowns, is now adding to people's stress.

"There's been a lot of talk lately on Facebook and on social media in regards to people getting letters in the mail from the government stating they have to owe back the money they've gotten," said Janine Harvey, an Ulukhaktok, N.W.T., resident and volunteer with national anti-poverty group Campaign 2000.

"It's alarming because we have a lot of young people in communities, and young people that are still going to school and have to owe back this money," she said, adding that many students are already carrying heavy debts.  

Harvey said the worry that CERB amounts may have to be paid back is adding strain to individuals and families who were already struggling before the pandemic.

CERB gave people who stopped working for reasons related to COVID-19 a $2,000-per-month taxable benefit. The program ended on Dec. 2.

Toward the end of 2020, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) sent out 441,000 letters warning people that they may not have been eligible for CERB. The CRA urged those who did not meet the eligibility requirements to pay back their CERB amounts by Dec. 31, so that their 2020 income tax return wouldn't be affected. 

'A lot of fear put into people'

"I feel like there's a lot of fear put into people about the CERB and the payback and how we are going to look at 2021 and how we're going to make ends meet," said Harvey.  

"We already have a housing crisis in the N.W.T. and we already have a lot of poverty — rates are high in the Northwest Territories — and so I think the government has put a lot of stress on everybody who got the letter stating they have to owe the money back."

In Harvey's view, the CERB eligibility requirements weren't clear.

"If you didn't have the guidance of someone helping you through the process, you might have just clicked 'yes, yes, yes' on the computer," she said.

Chief April Martel of K'atl'odeeche First Nation said in October that the program's presentation was confusing.

"[People] thought it was emergency money for everybody," said Martel. "And it was kind of posted just like that, like the headline itself was posted in that way. It was emergency money for Canadians." 

'We haven't been given any information'

Shortly after the government issued its warning letters, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau went on national television and said Canadians need not worry about repaying CERB, at least not over the holidays. 

But Alexander Pryor, the rector of Fort Smith, N.W.T., with the diocese of the Arctic for the Anglican Church of Canada, said the prime minister's statements just added to people's confusion.

Pryor helps N.W.T. residents file taxes and get benefits as a volunteer with CRA's Community Volunteer Income Tax Program. 

He said about a dozen people in Fort Smith have asked for more information about possible CERB repayment, and he's had to tell them that he doesn't know any more than they do.

"I don't have any additional information as to how this CERB is going to have to be repaid, how it's going to impact your taxes next year," he said. "We haven't been given any information. Nobody has." 

Pryor said CERB was "great" because it helped people during a time of need. But the program was "very confusing," he said, noting changes to eligibility requirements along the way.

Because of the poor communication, it's adding stress.- Alexander Pryor, CRA Community Volunteer Income Tax Program volunteer

Now, said Pryor, "because of the poor communication, it's adding stress."

John Stapleton, a social policy analyst who spent nearly 30 years with the Ontario government, said the CRA is "going after the poorest people in the country who can't afford to pay it back." 

While Stapleton commended the government for rolling out CERB quickly, he said the program had a "spectacularly bad design." He said people shouldn't be disqualified outright for, as an example, earning less than $5,000 in 2019. 

Stapleton said what the government should do is declare a repayment amnesty to people below the poverty line.

11,890 CERB applicants in N.W.T.

A person may have been eligible for CERB if they earned at least $5,000 in 2019 or the 12 months prior to their application. They may also be eligible if they're a parent who stopped working to care for a child while schools were closed because of COVID-19, among other reasons.

In the Northwest Territories, 11,890 people applied for CERB, and as of Sept. 6, the federal government had paid $101 million in CERB benefits to people in N.W.T.

The seemingly high uptake in the North and elsewhere in the country has led to speculation of fraudulent claims.

According to Statistics Canada, there were about 32,600 people over the age of 15 in N.W.T. in November of 2020. 

Vishini Peeris, territorial statistician with the NWT Bureau of Statistics, explained that working age people can fall into three camps: employed, unemployed, (meaning they were looking for work), or not in the labour force. 

She said people in any of those groups could "plausibly be eligible" for CERB payments.

No estimate for number of ineligible CERB claimants

Despite sending out hundreds of thousands of warning letters, the CRA says it doesn't actually have an estimate right now for the number of ineligible CERB claimants. 

In a series of emails, CRA spokesperson Sylvie Branch said the agency is "sympathetic" to the fact that for some people, the repayment of CERB may have "financial implications." She said payment arrangements are made on a case-by-case basis.

"Individuals who cannot make a payment in full are advised to contact the CRA to make a payment arrangement."

Still, the CRA is clear that CERB recipients who are found to have been ineligible will need to repay the money they got. 

Branch said this could mean that "offsetting credit program payments," such as the GST credit, are put toward CERB debts. The Canada Child Benefit, however, will not be used to repay CERB.

Harvey, from Ulukhaktok, said that by asking people who were already struggling to pay back CERB, the government might create social problems.

"We have high suicide rates, we have high poverty rates, we have a lack of housing," she said. "For this to happen, it really puts stress on family members and people."