440,000 Canadians who received the $2,000 Canada Emergency Response Benefits (CERB) checks from the federal government have been flagged for investigation, according to Blacklock's Reporter.
"We sent 440,000 letters to people whose eligibility still needs to be confirmed. Many of these 440,000 people have now filed their taxes, have been deemed eligible and aren’t in that list anymore," Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough said on Tuesday. "Let's not assume that all 440,000 will be ineligible, because we can't."
"The Canada Revenue Agency did not have enough information at the time to determine eligibility," Qualtrough claimed to justify why no checks were performed during the distribution of the benefits.
Nearly nine million Canadians applied for CERB benefits in 2020, bringing the program a total cost of $81.64 billion, three times over the original budget. It was the second costliest program implemented by the Trudeau government to combat coronavirus after the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS).
Anyone who had lost their jobs due to CERB and had an income of over $5,000 in 2019 was eligible for the benefits. However, background checks on claimants were not performed, leading to many taking the benefits without being technically eligible for them.
While the Liberals have promised to investigate and take action against those who fraudulently received CERB money, the NDP has promoted a policy of amnesty for many who they believe should have qualified for it anyway.
"Many people decided to take the CERB because of higher costs, for example, of keeping their kids home from school," said NDP MP Leah Gazan. "We know there are a number of kids in care who received the CERB and who are now mobilizing together to ask for CERB amnesty."
The Liberals have allowed for some amnesty, announcing on Tuesday that self-employed Canadians who applied for the program using gross income, as opposed to the required net income, will not be forced to repay the money.
"If you applied for the CERB based on your gross income of $5,000 instead of net pre-tax income and you met all the other eligibility criteria, you will not have to return your CERB payments," Qualtrough said.
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