Low-income seniors complain of poor communication, hidden deadlines in GIS repayment rollout

Conservative MP Shelby Kramp-Neuman says the opt-in nature of Ottawa’s approach to early March payments put the onus on the seniors to make themselves known to their MPs' office by the Feb. 28 deadline, which advocates say many missed. But the government says all affected seniors who have not yet received the one-time payment will receive it automatically on April 19.

Seniors Minister Kamal Khera, pictured March 25, told the Senate Social Affairs Committee on Feb. 25 that her department was working to issue early payments in March to seniors ‘experiencing severe financial hardship.’ Her comments were a ‘red flag,’ according to one advocate, for their lack of clarity around the March payment.The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia

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BY KEVIN PHILIPUPILLAI

April 1, 2022

Advocates and legal clinics say they are hearing from “panicked” seniors who have spent hours on the phone with Service Canada trying to register for early access to the government’s one-time payment to make up for clawbacks to federal income supports, only to find out they should have gone to...

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