Pay up…please? Debt agents struggle to recoup cash for feds

A handful of government institutions didn't get a penny from debt collectors working on their behalf, while others received just a fraction of one per cent of the outstanding money—minus fees.

Treasury Board President Scott Brison. Government institutions are prohibited by the Treasury Board from asking private collection agencies to go after money owed by federal employees—such as those accidentally overpaid in the Phoenix pay system debacle. Canadians owe hundreds of millions in criminal fines, mortgage debts, and other charges to the federal government.The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright

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BY PETER MAZEREEUW

March 1, 2017

Private debt collectors recovered less than seven per cent of the money they were tasked with tracking down for the federal government between late 2015 and December of last year, with some institutions getting back nothing at all, according to documents made public b...

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