While the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) continues to pay its employees, the impact of COVID-19 has affected families across the country; many having to apply for emergency benefits for loss of income.

In light of this, the CRA has temporarily suspended the recovery of all new overpayments effective March 16, 2020. This measure will allow the Compensation Client Service Centre (CCSC) to prioritize pay transactions for employees to ensure they are paid. We will resume the collection of overpayments as of September 1, 2020, to allow employees time during this difficult time and for the CCSC to focus on critical work.

The CCSC will provide notice to employees that have a new overpayment, to inform them that recovery will be suspended, and provide the details of the overpayment. However, an employee may still choose to repay their amount immediately, in the manner that best suits their situation, by advising the CCSC accordingly.

There are some exceptions and recovery of overpayments will continue for the following:

• Overpayments of less than 10% of an employee’s gross bi-weekly pay;
• Periods of leave without pay of 5 days or less (reported on a timesheet);
• Overpayments associated with the termination of employment, and overdrawn leave (vacation/sick) upon termination of employment (for reasons other than incapacity/illness and layoff);
• Cancellation of a leave with income averaging agreement by the employee, where the leave has been taken;
• Amounts advanced on behalf of employees for union dues;
• Maternity/parental allowance, where the employee has not fulfilled their obligation as set out in their collective agreement or terms and conditions of employment; and
• Amounts owed to public service health insurance plans, pension, supplementary death benefit or disability/long-term disability due to periods of leave without pay.

In addition, the recovery plan will continue for employees who already have a repayment plan in place as agreed upon. These plans can be modified by employees experiencing financial hardship by contacting the CCSC to request a more flexible arrangement.

We trust these measures will assist employees during the pandemic.