The landing page for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit is seen in Toronto, Monday, Aug. 10, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Giordano Ciampini
A federal government department has fired 49 employees who received the Canada Emergency Response Benefit while they were employed.
Employment and Social Development Canada, which oversaw the distribution of the benefit—better known as CERB— conducted an internal investigation and found that some of its employees had claimed the benefit for themselves.
"Those individuals that did break the trust of the employer-employee relationship … have been terminated," assistant deputy minister Mary Crescenzi told a House of Commons committee on Thursday. "To date, we have terminated 49 individuals."
Crescenzi and other senior officials from ESDC and the Canada Revenue Agency were testifying at the public accounts committee after an auditor general's report on the billions of dollars in COVID-19 benefits the government doled out during the pandemic.
The report found that of the $211 billion paid to Canadians and companies, at least $4.6 billion in overpayments went to those who were ineligible and another $27.4 billion merited further investigation.
CERB provided financial support to Canadians who had employment income of at least $5,000 in the 12 months prior to applying for it. Recipients were eligible to receive weekly $500 payments amounting to $2,000 over a four-week period.
Conservative MP Michael Kram also asked Bob Hamilton, the CRA commissioner, how many workers claimed CERB while employed.
Hamilton said he did not have exact numbers on hand, but said it was "not very many."
"We treat public servants as general taxpayers and if you violate the rules you suffer the compliance efforts," he said.
Neither department referred any of the cases to law enforcement, the officials said.
"We have very strong internal investigation at the CRA, and we deal with it ourselves," Hamilton said.
Crescenzi said the monies received by the 49 terminated employees have been classified as overpayments that must be repaid.
"They are being treated as any other Canadian that received benefits they were not entitled to," she said.
She also said none of the employees used ESDC's internal systems to apply for the benefits; they did so on their own time.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he feels it is his role to see the Safe Third Country Agreement upgraded, in order to make sure Canadians can continue to have confidence in Canada's immigration system.
The largest recorded earthquake in Alberta's history was not a natural event, but most likely caused by disposal of oilsands wastewater, new research has concluded.
Han Dong has announced he will be sitting as an independent MP after being the subject of foreign interference allegations.
A group of lawyers is racing against the clock to get Canadian children and their foreign-born mothers onto a plane that will soon be dispatched to repatriate detainees from prison camps in northeast Syria.
A federal source says the coming budget will detail how the Liberals plan to go after hidden or unexpected consumer fees, following the United States announcing its own crackdown on these charges.
Canada needs a 'Conservative renaissance,' former prime minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday, but he cautioned that Pierre Poilievre should wait until an election before telling Canadians how he might run the country.
The coronation of King Charles III will take place in May, in a ceremony that is expected to be less extravagant, while underscoring a new era for the Royal Family.
Two daughters of a retired optometrist suing Gwyneth Paltrow are expected to testify on Thursday about the lasting effects of their father and Paltrow's 2016 ski collision as the trial takes on an increasingly personal note on the third day of proceedings.
Parks Canada says its new online reservation system to book camping sites and other activities at national parks appears to have worked well during its first week of operations.
Two staff members who were stabbed at a Halifax-area high school have been released from hospital, while the student accused in the stabbing remains in custody.
Environment Canada has issued special weather statements in the Maritimes ahead of a spring mix of snow and rain arriving Thursday.
A Transportation Safety Board of Canada report has linked the fatal sinking of a Nova Scotia scallop dragger in 2020 to years of federal inaction on the imposition of stricter stability standards for fishing vessels.
This is what you need to know about the 2023 Ontario budget being tabled Thursday.
An Ontario mother and father say their four-year-old was recently diagnosed with a brain tumour after doctors believed his symptoms were a flu-like virus for months.
A Toronto woman said she received a free air purifier as an online promotion, but also signed up for a $7,000 vacuum cleaner in the process.
It's been one week since a devastating fire tore through a historic building in Old Montreal, killing at least four.
Macdonald High School in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue on Montreal's West Island was closed Thursday morning for 'security reasons.'
At least one school board is welcoming news of an investigation into allegations of sexual violence at schools.
One person has died following a serious two-vehicle crash on Highway 11 north of Matheson on Wednesday night, police say.
The family of a woman who died by suicide in November 2020 while incarcerated at the Sudbury Jail is suing police and other officials for more than $2 million.
A Tottenham woman faces impaired driving charges for allegedly blowing four times over the legal limit after crashing into a vehicle in a school parking lot.
At least four vehicles were involved in a collision at the intersection of Wonderland Road south and Commissioners Road west at around 9:40 a.m. on Thursday.
Plans are in the works to connect the existing Oneida Water Supply System to the Lake Huron Primary Water Supply System with Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) investing over $43 million to support the design and construction phases of this project.
It is what many people consider a safe space, secure in the confines of their own vehicle, but a stabbing on Richmond Row may have changed that for many. It happened around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon as a driver in a southbound car was waiting for a train to cross Richmond Street, just south of Piccadilly Street.
A day after four nurses resigned from a department at the Health Sciences Centre, more have followed suit.
There is a major risk of flooding on the Red River this spring, according to Manitoba’s Hydrologic Forecast Centre
One person is dead and five others are injured following a head-on crash on a Manitoba highway on Wednesday.
A fire at the former Dickson Bowl in downtown Galt has shut down a portion of a major Cambridge road.
Ontario’s police watchdog is investigating a crash near Belwood Lake that saw a 43-year-old Centre Wellington man transported to hospital.
Remembering the night he fatally shot Beau Baker outside a Kitchener apartment on Brybeck Crescent in April 2015, Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) Staff Sgt. Eric Boynton - who was a patrol officer at the time - testified he was worried about Baker killing himself or others.
TBA was started last year by long-time right-wing activist David Parker. It began as a way to push back against COVID-19 measures, but has since drastically grown.
If you were an Albertan waiting for a knee replacement in 2022 and you're still waiting, you're not alone.
A new political poll surveying Albertans ahead of May's provincial election shows a deep divide within the province, with the governing United Conservative Party and Alberta's New Democrats fighting neck and neck for support.
Saskatchewan is projecting a $1 billion surplus in the coming year and plans to spend just as much in paying down the province's debt.
The man charged with first-degree murder in the death of Ally Moosehunter took the stand Wednesday for cross-examination by the crown.
The Government of Saskatchewan is committing over $20 million for online learning as part of its record $3.1 billion education budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year.
The largest recorded earthquake in Alberta's history was not a natural event, but most likely caused by disposal of oilsands wastewater, new research has concluded.
Wearing her husband's police jacket, Ashley Ryan walked to centre ice at a charity hockey game in Spruce Grove, Alta., Wednesday night. She, a paramedic, then dropped the puck on the matchup that Brett was planning to referee.
Looks like we're in for some roller-coaster temperatures over the next few days.
Mounties in Surrey say a man they arrested last week for breaking into a home was also wanted by Burnaby RCMP, New Westminster police and the Metro Vancouver Transit Police.
Police on Vancouver Island have busted a vaping operation where nicotine- and THC-filled e-cigarettes were sold to youth at middle and high schools.
Dog owners in Trail, B.C., are being urged to keep their pets inside as Mounties investigate the deaths of two family dogs believed to have been poisoned with strychnine.
Saskatchewan is projecting a $1 billion surplus in the coming year and plans to spend just as much in paying down the province's debt.
A long list of Regina residents once again voiced their opposition to a downtown arena at a council meeting on Wednesday.
Saskatchewan’s healthcare spending will rise to record levels in the 2023-24 provincial budget but, after adjusting for inflation, critics say the boost is weaker than advertised.
