It would have been so much simpler and cheaper to just make CERB apply universally instead of still chasing after people who “cheated” the rules three years after the fact.
I know a lot of people who thought they were eligible and learned come tax season that they weren’t. The communications surrounding CERB were messy and unclear, with eligibility criteria seemingly changing daily.
The criteria was clearly defined on the website at the time. I remember looking it up, and I didn’t qualify, so I didn’t apply.
How did people apply without seeing the criteria written out on the page they were applying on? I guess some people were thinking “free money!” and didn’t bother to read the page.
The goal was to make sure people got the money they needed and they didn’t have the resources to look over the applications closely. Justin Trudeau clearly said something to the effect of “Yes it’s possible to get the CERB if you don’t actually qualify, but don’t that.”
It was very clear to me at the time that a) I didn’t qualify b) I could apply anyway and get the money even though I didn’t qualify c) They would be checking later and I’d have to pay it back if I didn’t qualify
I think people got thinking about part b) and didn’t understand part c) would happen someday.
I applied for EI as I qualified for that, they gave me CERB instead.
Did they end up clawing it back?
I was confused that I got a CERB clawback warning, and had it clawed back, but then I realized that I applied for sickness EI for something unrelated during covid. It isn’t worth it for me to try and track it back, especially when blinking the wrong direction is liable to get me locked out of my Service Canada account for some reason.
I just can’t even get angry about the ineptitude anymore, or even disappointed. Disappointment implies that I expected better, which throughout my apprenticeship of dealing with them I learned never to do.
They are saying they over paid me $1000 and are trying to be scary in attempting to retrieve it. Just making it difficult for them, as it wasn’t my fuck up.
