Federal Inaction: Most Government Departments Didn’t Track Staff Who Illegally Claimed CERB

Image Credits: Financial Post

Highlights:

• Only 2 out of 100+ federal departments (CRA and ESDC) took action to identify and dismiss employees who fraudulently applied for CERB.
• 289 CRA employees were fired or resigned after it was discovered they illegitimately claimed the benefit.
• 55 ESDC employees had their security clearances revoked and were terminated for fraudulent CERB claims.
• Most federal agencies did not investigate or request a review of fraudulent CERB claims within their ranks, citing lack of access to data.
• The Conservative opposition criticized the Liberal government’s inaction, claiming it failed to recover billions in suspected overpayments.

OTTAWA – A recent disclosure reveals that only two out of over 100 federal government departments and agencies made efforts to identify and sanction employees who illegitimately applied for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) while employed by the government. The findings, tabled in the House of Commons, underscore the limited action taken to address fraud within the public service during the pandemic.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) were the only government bodies to investigate and ultimately dismiss employees who wrongfully received CERB while on the federal payroll. These two agencies, incidentally, were responsible for administering the $2,000-per-week benefit, which was intended to provide emergency financial aid to workers affected by COVID-19 lockdowns.

According to the data provided on Monday, CRA terminated or saw the resignation of 289 employees as of June 2023, all of whom had fraudulently received CERB while still employed. The CRA had initially launched an investigation into 600 suspected cases, and they anticipate that the number of terminations may rise as their review continues.

Meanwhile, ESDC revoked the security clearances of 55 employees who had misrepresented their employment status to claim CERB, effectively leading to their dismissal. ESDC’s report detailed that these staff members “no longer met a condition of employment” after their misconduct was discovered.

Minimal Effort from Other Departments

In June, Conservative MP Adam Chambers asked all federal government departments to confirm whether they had conducted reviews to ensure none of their employees had made fraudulent CERB claims. The response was underwhelming. The vast majority of departments, including the Treasury Board Secretariat, stated they had undertaken no review and had not requested verification from CRA or ESDC.

Most government bodies claimed they lacked access to CERB application data and expressed no concerns about potential fraudulent claims among their staff. Many suggested that the responsibility for tracking and verifying CERB eligibility lay solely with CRA and ESDC.

The lack of investigation within other departments has drawn sharp criticism from opposition members. Conservative MP Michael Barrett condemned the Liberal government for its failure to track down potential abuse, stating, “Canadians have a right to know where their hard-earned tax dollars have gone, and whether these billions of vaporized tax dollars will ever be recovered.”

Efforts to Recover Overpayments

The CRA has made it clear that it cannot investigate employees from other federal departments unless asked to do so. However, it did launch post-payment verification efforts in January 2022, aimed at ensuring that all Canadians who received CERB, including federal employees, met the eligibility requirements.

A report by Auditor General Karen Hogan in 2023 revealed that the government had potentially overpaid at least $27 billion across a variety of pandemic-related programs. The report also noted that the government is significantly behind in efforts to recoup these funds, adding further urgency to the situation.

As scrutiny mounts over how the federal government handled pandemic relief programs, questions remain as to whether Canadians will see full accountability for mismanagement and fraudulent claims. While CRA and ESDC continue their investigations, most federal departments appear content to leave the issue of in-house fraud largely unaddressed.