'This has to be a mistake': Man told to repay $12K in CERB benefits

Eduardo Tso of Toronto says he thought he could apply and collect CERB because his shifts were reduced, despite still working.
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[@timothey94]

Just recently got told I also have to pay back $12,000! I literally got a letter from my work telling me I was being laid off due to Covid and I was out of work for five months and then eventually found another job that was hiring despite the pandemic, and immediately started working, and stopped applying for the benefit. Now they’re telling me I have to pay it back, even though I needed it in order to survive and not live on the streets? This is absolutely disgusting

[@brainerbird]

same with me, i went through my credit card and all my savings before i asked for a penny so i wasnt leaching of the govt.

[@coldsmokepwrstroke]

Never trust the Canadian government again.

[@siddiquenadir44]

Dont pay anything back.

[@ahmedgharbi1635]

Same here. Anyone knows what to do? I simply don’t have the money to pay it back at all.

[@siddiquenadir44]

@@ahmedgharbi1635 how much they asking you ?

[@LoveWeed3000]

My sister was told to pay back, but she's not doing it. What are they gonna do? Put her in jail When She is a single mom with two kids struggling With the cost of living that would be a very bad image to be added on for the government

[@JJJohnson441]

They will withhold any govt benefits. probably includes child credit too.

[@Zam1Fear]

They can freeze her bank accounts, and charge it on income tax as well.

[@PrimeVidyo]

@@Zam1Fear Make the world switch to crypto sooner, i like it

[@SpiffyBee4568]

I received CERB and my 2021 tax return was seized to pay it. In 2022, they claimed there was no evidence of me having paid anything towards to debt. I have no clue what went wrong, but I eventually declared bankruptcy and had to get my agent to tell them to back off.

[@Patrick-ls8nj]

CRA are irresponsible

[@MekaZealot]

The CERB program is, *sigh*, such a mess. My mother recently received a letter saying she has to pay back $12,000 even though back then, when she applied online for CERB, it told her she was ineligible for it. So she now has to pay the government for money she never received. What a disaster of a program.

[@cgyphan3uf]

Why are we asking who was eligible when it should have been all Canadians? Not only some Canadians and some non-Canadians. Truck Trudeau 🚚

[@TheDarthJesus]

"How could you expect me to pay this back now that interest rates are so high" You weren't eligible, you lied, you got caught.

[@WhirlyPearly]

Spot on.

[@jungoh1992]

“I think I qualified” lol. More like I thought I’d get away with it

[@Landis_Grant]

Filipino Canadians have lots of relatives with bank savings so paying back $12,000 is no sweat.

[@Themiddleman416]

In many cases just cause we were employed didn't mean we had money to survive and cover our bills. Meanwhile others that have never worked in their life, or work part time minimum wage jobs seen more money than they've ever earned. The whole program was unfair from the beginning.

[@1zo514]

I owe back 10,000 I know I shouldn’t of got the benefits but I read the forms wrong ,

[@hellinahandbasket7066]

I got the 2000 because my work pushed my work forward. They took it back when laid off & got EI.

[@alanmacification]

I know a couple of retirees who thought they were eligible but then lost their GIS benefits due to the increased income. And how the government wants the money back too.

[@jumbome7420]

They should have held on to it and not spent it. No idea how they thought they were eligible if they didn’t work.

[@jumbome7420]

Chances are they voted liberal so it’s fitting

[@bryguy0111]

@@jumbome7420exactly

[@karikari7336]

Vote them out

[@mermaidgirl3730]

I was just told I have to pay back $17000.00 even tho my income went down by less then half during that time !!! ???

[@ultrastandphoenix1883]

I just got a bill from cra saying i owe 13 grand .😂😂😂 trudeu is a witch no cap .am gonna make my accountant figure something out

[@gabriellabuttino4867]

I declared bankruptcy 19000

[@karenfreeman4921]

I got 2000 in 2020 and I paid back last year 2500.. include interest rate.

[@cgyphan3uf]

lol scammed

[@webcityguy]

Government didn’t charge interest on Cerb repayments - so who did you pay this $$$ back to?

[@karenfreeman4921]

@@webcityguy who said that….i got 2000.. and interest is 500 $

[@karenfreeman4921]

@@webcityguy pay it back to goverment. I lostmy job and I applied for cerb and the same time i got money from EI for two months,then I got news job. After two years,, they send me letter I have to pay back 2000 + interest 500..

[@mickydrake1278]

Bohoo