Many students who got CERB should have applied for the lower paying Canada Emergency Student Benefit
Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion Carla Qualtrough says the new remission order will help students being asked to pay back CERB benefits (THE CANADIAN PRESS) (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)
Nearly 100,000 students asked to repay CERB benefits they claimed during the COVID-19 pandemic could soon get a break.
Under an order in council, adopted without fanfare earlier this month, students will be able to deduct the amount they could have collected under the COVID aid program for students, from the amount of CERB benefits they are being asked to repay. Carla Qualtrough, minister of employment, workforce development and disability inclusion, said the government realized when it followed up on the benefit payments it made during the pandemic that many students who received benefits under the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) should have actually applied for a different program – the Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB). |
The ADs on this page are posted by Affiliate of corresponding companies (not their employee)
|
While the CERB program paid out benefits to workers who had lost their jobs because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CESB was designed to help students who were unable to find work in the first place because of the pandemic.
In some cases, students have been told that they have to repay thousands of dollars in CERB payments they received but that it was too late to apply for the student benefit. A remission order, adopted by cabinet June 2, sets out to address what Qualtrough describes as an "inequity." "If we determine that you owe money for CERB, you may say to yourself, well if I'd known I wasn't eligible for the CERB, I would have applied for the student benefit because I know I was eligible for that," Qualtrough said in an interview with CBC News. "You're the person we're going to help with this. You're the person for whom we are correcting this inequity." Qualtrough estimates the move could help an estimated 98,000 students. |
--------ADVERTISEMENT--------
|
TIPs: Retail Item prices & shipping costs for the same products may differ among different countries. Price comparison is suggested.
New experience! Shopping around different countries, while sitting at home.
New experience! Shopping around different countries, while sitting at home.