Government Recovers About a Third of $3 Billion Erroneous CERB Payments

The federal government has so far recovered about a third of the roughly $3 billion in COVID-19 relief benefits paid to ineligible people, the cabinet disclosed in records submitted to the House of Commons.
In an Inquiry of Ministry, obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter, the cabinet said notices have been sent to roughly 1.7 million Canadians who do not qualify for but have received the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB). A total of 8.9 million people received the benefit, meaning that ineligible applicants account for 19 percent of the recipients.
“The intended total recovery amount cannot be predicted with accuracy at this time,” Minister of National Revenue Diane Lebouthillier said in the records….