Brian contacted us after learning the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction (MSDPR) had assessed that he owed a significant debt due to alleged overpayments made several years prior. Brian explained he had been receiving Persons with Disabilities (PWD) assistance from the ministry for several years before leaving Canada in 2018. When he returned the following year, the ministry reinstated his assistance, but a few months later Brian noticed a $20 deduction from his monthly assistance amount.

When Brian contacted the ministry enquiring about the deduction he was told it was a repayment for assistance overpayments made to him in 2016 and 2017. He later received a letter from the ministry notifying him about the overpayment and advising a debt of nearly $9,000 had been added to his file. The letter explained the ministry determined Brian had received payments he was not entitled because of income reporting errors.

Brian felt the ministry had not provided enough notice of the alleged overpayments or a reasonable explanation for how they had accrued. His attempts to address these issues through numerous contacts with the ministry were unsuccessful.

We investigated whether the ministry followed a reasonable procedure in responding to Brian’s concerns.

After obtaining ministry records and speaking with several staff members, the ministry appeared unable to offer an adequate explanation for how it had determined Brian owed $9,000. We also questioned whether the ministry’s communications with Brian about both the overpayment and in response to the issues he had identified were adequate in the circumstances. The ministry subsequently agreed to conduct a review of Brian’s assistance history. The review, which was expanded to include all of the years in which Brian had been a recipient, found numerous instances where the ministry had issued the incorrect amount of monthly assistance. The review concluded that while Brian had been overpaid nearly $6,000, he had also been underpaid approximately $3,000 by the ministry.

Some of the errors appeared related to Brian’s reporting to the ministry. However, the ministry also acknowledged mistakes were made in how they had assessed his assistance entitlement. In such situations, the ministry may agree to waive debts a person accrues through no fault of their own. In Brian’s case, the ministry concluded it would be appropriate to remove over $2,000 from the total overpayment amount, leaving him with a debt of only $900.

To resolve the complaint, we asked the ministry do a number of things, including:

• write a letter of apology to Brian and explain the payment issued identified in the review, including records the ministry relied upon in reaching its conclusions;
• invite Brian to meet to discuss the review; and,
• follow-up with individual ministry staff, and their supervisors, who contributed to the errors to provide them with relevant training to ensure similar issues do not occur in the future.

The ministry agreed, and we considered the fairness issues in Brian’s complaint resolved.