Canadians Face Requests to Repay COVID Benefits Years Later, Leaving Some Struggling Financially

Nearly 4 years after rollout, some Canadians asked to repay COVID benefits they were not eligible for, leaving them struggling financially
Between March-October 2020, federal government paid out nearly $211B in emergency benefits to 8.9M Canadians
Almost $5B went to ineligible applicants, auditor general later found
Confusion came when initial CERB program transitioned to other specified programs like CRB
Business owners who gotCanada Emergency Business Account loans now facing requests to repay full $40K by Jan 2024, even if business suffered in pandemic