The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has fired 120 workers for taking Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) payments, to which they were not entitled..Since June 30, the CRA had only fired 20 workers over “inappropriately” claiming CERB, with approximately 600 workers being investigated for taking CERB. However, 30 CRA workers were eligible for the benefit and will not be fired..“Out of the approximately 600 cases, we can report that 120 individuals are no longer with the CRA as a result of this internal review. The investigations and disciplinary processes continue,” said Nina Ioussoupova, CRA spokeswoman, in a statement on Friday..CERB started within a few weeks of the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic..CERB gave $2,000 each month to people who qualified for it, with one of the key requirements being losing your primary source of income because of the virus. .If someone was still working and making more than $1,000 a month, they did not qualify for CERB..“The CRA takes any form of wrongdoing very seriously and is strongly committed to protecting the integrity of Canada’s tax and benefit systems and demonstrating to Canadians that the CRA is a trusted and fair organization,” said Ioussoupova..“The CRA employs individuals with a variety of employment profiles such as temporary and student contracts; and, as such, individuals may have been eligible to receive the CERB at the time it was available.”
