Have you gotten a notice of claim from the federal government about reimbursing the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) or the Canada Emergency Service Benefit (CESB)? If you were denied last-resort financial benefits because of these benefits, you can be paid retroactively.
Do you have questions about your notice of claim or want to make arrangements for paying off a debt? Contact Canada Revenue Agency (1-833-253-7615) or Service Canada (1-866-864-5823) directly. Note that the Protecteur du citoyen can’t intervene regarding federal government ministries and agencies.
Last-resort financial assistance
Last-resort financial assistance is granted to adults with little or no income who have little or no savings. It is provided by Québec’s Ministère de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale (MESS) under programs such as the:
Before receiving last-resort financial assistance, you must have applied for any other amount you might qualify for. In 2020, this may have included the Canada Emergency Support Benefit (CERB) or the Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB), issued by the federal government.
As a rule, people who received CERB or CESB had too much income to qualify for last-resort financial assistance.
But what if I have to repay CERB or CESB?
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, CERB and CESB were issued to people who weren’t eligible for it.
If this happened to you, you must repay the benefits. However, you can be paid the last-resort financial assistance you were denied in 2020 retroactively.
An exceptional measure
Usually, last-resort financial assistance can’t be issued retroactively. Exceptionally, MESS can re-assess a last-resort financial assistance application that was turned down in 2020.
You can apply if you meet the following three conditions:
- You applied for last-resort financial assistance between March 15 and September 26, 2020;
- MESS refused your application because of your CERB or CESB income;
- You received a notice of claim from the federal government asking that you repay CERB or CESB.
Your eligibility will be re-assessed for the period between the date your form was handed in to MESS and September 30, 2020.
Questions or problems?
You must notify MESS if you received a notice of claim from the federal government for any COVID-19-related emergency benefit. Call 1-877-767-8773, option 3.
Do you disagree with a MESS decision about your last-resort financial assistance application? You have 90 days to contest it.
Are you dissatisfied with MESS services? File a complaint with the Protecteur du citoyen. Our services are free and confidential. You can also contact MESS’s Direction de l’amélioration de la qualité des services à la clientèle.
The Protecteur du citoyen handles complaints about provincial departments and public agencies only. At the federal level, the Office of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson handles complaints about Canada Revenue Agency. The Office for Client Satisfaction handles complaints about Service Canada.
