Nearly 300 Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) employees who improperly applied for and received the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) have now left the agency, according to the latest figures from an internal investigation.
The agency launched an investigation last year to identify people who improperly received CERB benefits as CRA employees, and has 600 cases that need to be investigated further.
“The CRA takes any wrongdoing very seriously and is committed to protecting the integrity of Canada’s tax and benefits system,” the agency said in a statement to CBC.
The CERB provided financial assistance to people who lost their job or self-employment income during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As of June 17, 2024, 289 CRA employees who improperly applied for and received CERB have left the CRA,” the statement said. The new figures update previous totals the agency has regularly released.
“Anyone found to be ineligible for CERB, including CRA employees who improperly applied for and received it, will be required to repay the money if they have not already done so,” the agency added.
The CRA also noted that 135 employees under investigation had been released as of August 23 this year.
“CRA employs individuals in a variety of employment statuses, including temporary and student contracts, which means some individuals may be eligible for CERB,” the company said.
Union says CRA is “getting a lot tougher”
Marc Briere, national president of the tax officials’ union, said the tax office had adopted a “heavy-handed” approach in some cases.
“Some people have done something wrong and are paying the price for it, while others sometimes don’t do it with any malicious intent,” he said.
“The CRA takes this very seriously. This is obviously a sensitive issue that concerns the CRA’s reputation. When in doubt, they deal quite harshly.”
He said some of the firings were clear-cut and difficult to defend, but others had “extenuating factors” that led to the union filing a grievance.
“When CERB first launched, it was very confusing,” he said. “It was rolled out in three weeks, and some employees and union members, some of whom are no different than the general public, weren’t sure if they were eligible.”
In some cases, employees had second jobs or even triple jobs, Briere said. When they lost one of them, some believed they were eligible for benefits because of the loss of income. In some cases, Briere said, they received incorrect information from CRA customer service.
The layoffs represent a small fraction of the roughly 60,000 people who work for CRA.
“The actions of a few should not undermine the honesty and integrity of the thousands of CRA employees who work in an exemplary manner every day to serve Canadians,” the CRA said.
