'The actions of some should in no way undermine the honesty and integrity of the tens of thousands of CRA employees who work every day in an exemplary manner to serve Canadians'
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has completed its work of penalizing workers who have wrongfully claimed payments through the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Overall, the CRA has fired 330 workers, with the final round of firings occurring in the past three months, according to Global News.
Those that did access CERB inappropriately will be required to pay back the money if they have not already done so, the CRA said.
“The actions of some should in no way undermine the honesty and integrity of the tens of thousands of CRA employees who work every day in an exemplary manner to serve Canadians,” a spokesperson for the CRA said in an email, reported Global News.
Overall, the CRA has investigated about 600 workers who may have taken advantage of CERB even though they were ineligible.
Terminations, suspensions for CERB abusers
But everyone who has been investigated was not terminated. The CRA said of those who were investigated, 185 were not fired. However, 40 faced disciplinary actions, such as suspension.
The remainder of the cases saw administrative actions taken, such as the end of review as the employee was no longer with the agency at the time of review, or were found to be a victim of identity theft, according to the Global News report.
Meanwhile, 135 faced no consequences as they were eligible for CERB. Some of their employees could receive the benefit because they were students or on temporary contracts, according to the report.
The CRA is still looking into a small number of cases, such as those on medical or extended unpaid leave, according to the report.
In 2020, the CRA sent letters to 213,000 people who may have applied for the emergency benefit both through the CRA and Service Canada, and received the benefit twice. The letter informed citizens that they have to repay government benefits if they were paid twice through the CERB.
CERB provided financial support to employed and self-employed Canadians who were directly affected by COVID-19, paying out $2,000 for a 4-week period.