Liberals offer up to $742 million to low income seniors whose GIS was clawed back this year
Peter Zimonjic
Peter Zimonjic
CBC
© Ben Nelms/CBC The federal government is offering one-time cash payments to seniors whose GIS payments were clawed back because they accepted pandemic benefits.
Pressed by its critics to help vulnerable seniors whose Guaranteed Income Supplement payments were cut after they accepted pandemic supports, the federal government is offering cash payments to blunt the effect of the clawback.
"We are committing today to provide Guaranteed Income Supplement or Allowance beneficiaries who also received the Canada Emergency Response Benefit [CERB] with a one-time payment to alleviate the financial hardship they may have faced as a result of an unintended interaction between the two benefits," Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said in prepared remarks in the House of Commons.
The NDP and Bloc Québécois, along with anti-poverty advocates, have been pressuring the federal government for months to address the issue.
In its 2021 Economic and Fiscal Update, tabled in the House of Commons today, the government earmarks $742.4 million in 2022-23 for the 214,000 seniors aged 60 and over who were affected by the clawback.
GIS is a program meant to help low income seniors make ends meet. The payments are based on income. A single senior earning less than $19,248 qualifies for GIS, while the cutoff for couples can be as high as $46,128, depending on their pension situation. In 2021, the maximum monthly payment under the program was $948.82.
The CERB and the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) are both considered taxable income. A large number of seniors who took these benefits did so to supplement their GIS payments when they were no longer able to work part time to top up their income.
By taking pandemic benefits like the CERB — which provided $2,000 a month to claimants — many of these seniors skewed their income for the last fiscal year, which is used to calculate GIS payments.
Seniors told CBC last month that the way the CERB is structured forced them to claim the full monthly benefit, rather than taking only what they needed to replace part-time income.
'A perpetual struggle'
For many seniors, claiming a pandemic benefit pushed their income for the last fiscal year to a level high enough to trigger a cut to GIS this year. Some seniors saw this year's GIS eliminated completely, leaving them struggling to pay rent and bills.
Janet McLeod, who received about $300 a month through the GIS program, said she was told in July that because she had accepted several CERB payments, all her GIS payments for this year would be cancelled.
"I am in a perpetual struggle," she told CBC in November. "So to be cut back $300 a month is very difficult, paying rent and taking care of my other expenses, which are very modest."
In September, the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer told the NDP that taking the CERB and the CRB out of the equation used to calculate GIS — effectively offering a blanket CERB amnesty to low-income seniors — would cost the government $380 million this year and $58 million next year, and would affect about 90,000 seniors.
The Liberal government says it will provide almost twice that amount in relief payments and that the money will go to about 183,000 seniors aged 65 and older and another 21,000 seniors aged 60 to 64.
Relief for students
The Liberal government said that it also would "continue to investigate ways to limit potential benefit reductions for vulnerable seniors who received emergency and recovery benefits."
The federal government is also proposing to help some students who received the CERB even though they were not eligible, and may now find themselves facing "significant repayments."
The debt relief program for students in this situation is estimated to cost the government $69.7 million.
Students who improperly claimed the CERB instead of the Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB) will be allowed to offset their CERB debt by applying it against what they would have received in student benefits over the same time period.
Students who got the CESB received $1,250 for a four-week period, for a maximum of 16 weeks, between May 10 and August 29, 2020. Students with disabilities or dependants also got an extra $750 — for a total benefit of $2,000 — for each four-week period.
The relief program will help cut debt for students only by subtracting the amount they qualified for under the student benefit from what they received through CERB.
Pressed by its critics to help vulnerable seniors whose Guaranteed Income Supplement payments were cut after they accepted pandemic supports, the federal government is offering cash payments to blunt the effect of the clawback.
"We are committing today to provide Guaranteed Income Supplement or Allowance beneficiaries who also received the Canada Emergency Response Benefit [CERB] with a one-time payment to alleviate the financial hardship they may have faced as a result of an unintended interaction between the two benefits," Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said in prepared remarks in the House of Commons.
The NDP and Bloc Québécois, along with anti-poverty advocates, have been pressuring the federal government for months to address the issue.
In its 2021 Economic and Fiscal Update, tabled in the House of Commons today, the government earmarks $742.4 million in 2022-23 for the 214,000 seniors aged 60 and over who were affected by the clawback.
GIS is a program meant to help low income seniors make ends meet. The payments are based on income. A single senior earning less than $19,248 qualifies for GIS, while the cutoff for couples can be as high as $46,128, depending on their pension situation. In 2021, the maximum monthly payment under the program was $948.82.
The CERB and the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) are both considered taxable income. A large number of seniors who took these benefits did so to supplement their GIS payments when they were no longer able to work part time to top up their income.
By taking pandemic benefits like the CERB — which provided $2,000 a month to claimants — many of these seniors skewed their income for the last fiscal year, which is used to calculate GIS payments.
Seniors told CBC last month that the way the CERB is structured forced them to claim the full monthly benefit, rather than taking only what they needed to replace part-time income.
'A perpetual struggle'
For many seniors, claiming a pandemic benefit pushed their income for the last fiscal year to a level high enough to trigger a cut to GIS this year. Some seniors saw this year's GIS eliminated completely, leaving them struggling to pay rent and bills.
Janet McLeod, who received about $300 a month through the GIS program, said she was told in July that because she had accepted several CERB payments, all her GIS payments for this year would be cancelled.
"I am in a perpetual struggle," she told CBC in November. "So to be cut back $300 a month is very difficult, paying rent and taking care of my other expenses, which are very modest."
In September, the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer told the NDP that taking the CERB and the CRB out of the equation used to calculate GIS — effectively offering a blanket CERB amnesty to low-income seniors — would cost the government $380 million this year and $58 million next year, and would affect about 90,000 seniors.
The Liberal government says it will provide almost twice that amount in relief payments and that the money will go to about 183,000 seniors aged 65 and older and another 21,000 seniors aged 60 to 64.
Relief for students
The Liberal government said that it also would "continue to investigate ways to limit potential benefit reductions for vulnerable seniors who received emergency and recovery benefits."
The federal government is also proposing to help some students who received the CERB even though they were not eligible, and may now find themselves facing "significant repayments."
The debt relief program for students in this situation is estimated to cost the government $69.7 million.
Students who improperly claimed the CERB instead of the Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB) will be allowed to offset their CERB debt by applying it against what they would have received in student benefits over the same time period.
Students who got the CESB received $1,250 for a four-week period, for a maximum of 16 weeks, between May 10 and August 29, 2020. Students with disabilities or dependants also got an extra $750 — for a total benefit of $2,000 — for each four-week period.
The relief program will help cut debt for students only by subtracting the amount they qualified for under the student benefit from what they received through CERB.
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