Trudeau government says they delayed seniors' CERB payments over fraud concerns

Seniors will receive a special one time payment from the Trudeau government in early July to help them with the economic hardships brought on by the pandemic. While some have been critical of how long it has taken for them to receive their payment, the Liberals said the delay is to ensure that the money being issued won't have any chances of fraudulent recipients, according to Huffington Post.

This comes after the Trudeau government stated on May 14 that "The choice we made was to get the money out to people immediately," and Trudeau noted that fraudsters would get caught "as we move forward."

Seniors won't have to apply for the benefits if they are currently already receiving the Old Age Security (OAS) or Guaranteed Income Security (GIS) and the money will be delivered via direct deposit, or if that option isn't accessibly than by a mailed cheque.

More than six million seniors will be eligible for the $300 payments to top up their old-age security benefits, and another $200 will go to the 2.2 million seniors currently receiving the GIS or guaranteed income supplement.

The total cost of the one-time benefit is estimated to be about $2.5 billion for the fiscal year, according to the parliamentary budget officer. Initially, the payments were to be issued in mid-May, meaning that between the initial payment date and July 6, two payments installments will have been missed.

Seniors Minister Deb Shulte said that part of the delay was time needed for the government to create a new delivery system that would make sure the payments are going to the right people without making the 6.7 million seniors need to apply for it.

"That’s the reason why it’s taken a little longer," said Schulte in a press conference. "We want to ensure accuracy and we want to make sure seniors are not vulnerable, or not exposed to any fraud or the kind of things we’ve been seeing as people are applying."

This comes after much scrutiny over the enclave of fraudulent Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) claims after the benefit was so hastily given out to Canadians. The Liberals said that any and all fraudulent CERB claims will be dealt with by the end of next year's tax season and that all the money will be repaid.

While being pressed about the issues of fraudulent claims, Trudeau and his administration said that they were well aware of the likelihood of fraudulent claims but felt that it was best to get the money issued out as fast as possible and deal with the fraudulent claims later.

The National Post estimates around 200,00 CERB payments currently being issued out to be fraudulent.

“We are doing this on an ongoing basis,” said Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough. “Rest assured, we are following up today, tomorrow, next week, next month on every single red flag in the system.”

The $2,000 per month CERB payment has already paid out $43.18 billion so far to the almost 8.4 million Canadians who have applied for it. Initially, the Liberals estimated the CERB would cost a total of $35 million but that estimation has since increased to $60 million as more and more people apply and continue to receive the benefit.