OTTAWA, ON, March 18, 2025 /CNW/ - Today, the Taxpayers' Ombudsperson, Mr. François Boileau, released Timing Is Everything, the report on our Office's examination into issues that could prevent some temporary residents from receiving the Canada child benefit (CCB) in a timely manner.
In March 2024, the Taxpayers' Ombudsperson announced that our Office was opening a systemic examination into this situation. During this examination, one of the main issues we found was that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) stops paying the CCB after a temporary resident's status has expired in its system, even if they may still be eligible for the benefit. This can happen because the onus is on the taxpayer to send the CRA proof of their updated status, but it generally takes the CRA 14 weeks or more to process updated temporary resident status information. As a result, temporary residents will not receive CCB payments while they wait for the CRA to process this information.
Many temporary residents rely on the CCB to make ends meet. Although the CRA will send payments to the temporary resident retroactively once it has updated their immigration status, the temporary resident still has to pay their bills in the meantime. While waiting weeks for the CRA to update their file, single parents still have to feed their children and families still have to pay rent. This can be very difficult or impossible without the CCB.
To more fully understand the factors surrounding the issue, we looked into how the CRA informs temporary residents about the eligibility criteria to continue receiving the CCB without interruption. We also looked at whether the CRA communicates with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and if they could streamline the process to prove eligibility.
To continue receiving the CCB, temporary residents must have legal status in Canada, including maintained status. They have maintained status if, before their permit expires, they have applied to IRCC for an extension for their permit and are waiting for IRCC to make a decision. While on maintained status, eligible temporary residents are still entitled to receive the CCB.
However, we found that the CRA does not notify temporary residents before it stops paying them the CCB. And as mentioned above, the CRA stops paying the CCB after the temporary resident's status expires in its system, even if they have legal status. Although it is the taxpayer's responsibility to notify the CRA of updates to their immigration status, this is problematic because they may not know that they need to send updated information to the CRA until they try to find out why their benefit payments have stopped. With the CRA's long processing times compounding this issue, temporary residents could wait more than four months for their CCB payments to start again.
This issue partly exists because the CRA processes the updated information manually. Additionally, the CRA does not have an information-sharing agreement with IRCC to validate temporary resident status information and help it determine eligibility for the CCB.
As a result of this examination, the Taxpayers' Ombudsperson has made 11 recommendations to improve the service the CRA provides to temporary residents. The CRA should:
- remind taxpayers whose immigration status is about to expire that they must provide proof of any update to their legal status to make sure their benefits are not interrupted.
- give taxpayers a way to check the expiry date of their immigration status in their online CRA account.
- see if it can make information that requires action more prominent on the initial notices it sends to temporary residents.
- provide information online at the "Keep getting your payments" web page for temporary residents about:
- what they need to do to prevent their payments from stopping; and
- what they can do to get their payments reinstated if they are stopped.
- centralize the information it provides to newcomers and include information targeted at temporary residents.
- communicate directly and in a timely manner with temporary residents who may be eligible for the CCB.
- allow taxpayers to track CCB correspondence through its progress tracker.
- inform taxpayers through its CRA's Check Processing Time tool of how long it will take to process CCB correspondence.
- improve how it processes immigration status updates for CCB recipients when there is a gap period and the new permit does not reflect that their status was maintained, explaining why they will not get payments for the gap period and who they should contact if they had maintained status for the whole period.
- review the length of time it considers someone to be a newcomer after their arrival in Canada.
- implement an information-sharing agreement with IRCC to get immigration information and continue collaborating with IRCC to work towards an automated solution to get real-time data.
Background information
The Office of the Taxpayers' Ombudsperson works independently from the CRA. Canadians can submit complaints to the Office if they feel they are not receiving the appropriate service from the CRA. Our main objective is to improve the service the CRA provides to taxpayers and benefit recipients by reviewing individual service complaints and service issues that affect more than one person or a segment of the population.
The Taxpayers' Ombudsperson assists, advises and informs the Minister of National Revenue about matters relating to services provided by the CRA. The Ombudsperson ensures, in particular, that the CRA respects eight of the service rights outlined in the Taxpayer Bill of Rights.
Quote
"Government officials don't send CCB payments out of the goodness of their hearts. It's written in the law. And when a single mother of two is relying on these payments to feed her children, getting the CCB on time is a question of need.
"Our Office is aware that the CRA and IRCC are in a period of fiscal constraint. However, this should not stop the CRA from improving the service it provides to the most vulnerable, including those who rely on the CCB to help with the costs of raising their children.
"I made these recommendations not only for the benefit of temporary residents. They could also help the CRA put in place automated processes to reduce reliance on human resources."
Mr. François Boileau, Taxpayers' Ombudsperson
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SOURCE Office of the Taxpayers' Ombudsperson
