The Canada Revenue Agency was aware that a planned ramp-up this past winter in its debt collection activities could result in confusion and financial hardship for some low-income individuals at a time of high inflation, according to a memorandum sent to the Minister of Revenue.
But it was only in April that the agency sent out a plain-language e-mail warning about the clawbacks to individuals who might be impacted and who had signed up for electronic notifications. In the memo, the agency said it would communicate “early and often” how and why it would apply clawbacks to help the public and affected individuals understand the impact of the measures. But the memorandum is dated Feb. 3, just three days before the planned rollout.
The Globe was among the media outlets that received such communication. But those invitations went out on March 25 and April 4, when the agency had already started clawing back benefits.