New Report Finds The Feds Paid Out Billions In COVID Benefits To People Who Weren't Eligible

A new report looking into Canada's emergency COVID-19 benefits has found that the government paid out around $4.6 billion to people who were not eligible to receive the money.

On Tuesday, December 6, Canada's auditor general tabled a performance audit in the House of Commons that considered whether the federal government effectively delivered emergency benefits during the pandemic.

While it found that COVID‑19 benefits supported Canada’s economic recovery, the audit also concluded that "a significant amount of payments" were made to recipients who should not have received them.

The report found that the feds paid out $4.6 billion to ineligible individual recipients.

What's more, it found that around $27.4 billion worth of payments to individuals and employers should still be "investigated further."

Among the benefits that were incorrectly claimed are the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS), the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB), and the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB), among others.

One of the main reasons so many ineligible individuals were able to claim emergency benefits in Canada was because the government relied on attestation of eligibility rather than pre-payment checks.

This meant that individuals were able to declare themselves as eligible without being formally verified by officials.

"The risk that some recipients might not be eligible for benefits they received made verifying eligibility after payment all the more important," the report explains.

However, according to the audit, the government "did not develop rigorous and comprehensive plans to verify the eligibility of recipients."

What's more, it also found that the government's post-payment verification plans have fallen short, with the feds now at risk of failing to complete all post-payment verifications within the set deadlines.

"This means they may be unable to identify and recover amounts owing," reads the audit.

According to the information provided by officials, the government has recuperated just $2.3 billion so far. The auditor general says the government's efforts to collect owed money has been "limited."

"It is likely that a significant amount of money will not be recovered," the report says.

Speaking on Tuesday, Auditor General Karen Hogan said, "I am concerned about the lack of rigour on post-payment verifications and collection activities."

She added, "The Canada Revenue Agency and Employment and Social Development Canada need to act now to expand their post-payment verification plans to include all recipients identified as being at risk of being ineligible for benefits, then the department and agency need to carry out their plans and recover COVID-19 benefit amounts owed."

Despite the criticism of how some aspects of Canada's COVID-19 benefits were handled, Canada's auditor general says the objective of "helping Canadians as quickly as possible" during the pandemic was achieved.

"[The Government of Canada] quickly offered financial relief to individuals and employers, prevented a rise in poverty, mitigated income inequalities, and helped the economy to recover from the effects of the pandemic," reads the report.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.