Feds wag finger at CRA for CANCELLING benefits for illegal immigrants

Taxpayers Ombudsman François Boileau wagged his finger at the Canada Revenue Agency for cancelling welfare cheques to illegal immigrants.

Boileau said the Agency policy intensified hardships for people whose status is expiring, reported Blacklock’s. Some 4.9 million people, whose visas are set to expire between September of 2024 and next December, are expected to voluntarily leave.

The briefing note, Undocumented Migrants, estimates as many as 500,000 people reside in Canada without status, including illegal immigrants and others who exhausted their appeals.

“The vast majority leave,” testified former immigration minister Marc Miller before the immigration committee. “In some cases, increasingly many, I would concede, people decide to choose they are in a situation of irregularity.”

Ombudsman @OTO_Canada cites hardship for foreigners here illegally who abruptly lose benefits when permits expire, quotes one saying they've "lost faith in the system."  https://t.co/FM1CyYcGm2 @CitImmCanada @CanRevAgency pic.twitter.com/hv9ONlpsfU

The Immigration And Refugee Protection Act allows temporary residents, including refugee claimants, migrant workers and foreign students, to receive the Canada Child Benefit. This tax-free benefit pays parents up to $7,787 per year, depending on household income and the age of the children.

Benefits automatically stop when permits expire, unless the CRA is notified of an extension application. This can delay payments for eligible temporary residents.

“The law does not require the Agency to remind taxpayers their immigration status is expiring in its system,” wrote the Ombudsman. “The Agency will not pay out benefits unless the taxpayer provides it with proof they still have legal status.” 

Boileau’s report “Timing Is Everything” urges the CRA to remind temporary residents of expiring status, citing residents who “lost faith” due to delayed payments. Applying for retroactive benefits can take several months, it added, citing it can take months to obtain proof.

The report counted 53,770 foreigners in Canada on temporary permits who received Canada Child Benefit cheques, Blacklock’s learned.

Efforts to legally restrict refugee claimants' benefits have failed over the past decade, according to the publication. Bill C-585, intended to limit welfare to refugees, was introduced in 2014 and lapsed in 2015.

A 2012 program limiting free prescription drugs and dental care was also ruled "cruel and unusual." The immigration department at the time said “failed claimants and those from safe countries” like the United States “should not be entitled to better health care than Canadians.”

“An average refugee costs taxpayers $82,000 per refugee per year,” said Conservative MP Apran Khanna. Asylum seekers receive $81,760 per person annually in legal assistance, housing, food and medical care, averaging out to $11,260 more than the typical Canadian salary. 

Taxpayers pay upwards of $224 per day to accommodate illegal asylum claimants, equating to $81,760—ten times more than Old Age Security pays recipients.

The Budget Office in a 2018 report, Costing Irregular Migration Across Canada’s Southern Border, said federal expenses averaged $14,321 for each illegal immigrant. Costs ran as high as $33,700, it said.

Alex Dhaliwal

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Alex Dhaliwal is a Political Science graduate from the University of Calgary. He has actively written on relevant Canadian issues with several prominent interviews under his belt.

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