GIS loss or drastic reduction? You can seek help from your MP

“Many seniors in my riding have been asking for urgent help because they can no longer afford food or are facing eviction due to the loss or drastic reduction of their Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS). It is heartless and unconscionable for the Liberal government to treat low-income seniors this way.

Seniors who applied for CERB or other pandemic benefits under the Service Canada stream can submit an urgent request to adjust the amount of their GIS based on their estimated income. However, seniors who applied under the Canada Revenue Agency stream have no process available to address this urgent situation.

If you are an impacted senior, bring your concerns to your local Member of Parliament.

The Liberal government should treat all seniors equally, no matter under which Ministry stream they applied for CERB. I, along with other

NDP MPs, are calling on the government to exempt CERB or pandemic benefits as income when calculating GIS eligibility for low income vulnerable seniors.”

Many low-income seniors recently found that their monthly old age pension (including OAS, CPP and GIS) have been sharply reduced

by several hundred dollars, and this situation would continue in the following months. With a few hundred dollars less in monthly

income, these seniors find themselves left in dire situation, struggling to make ends meet.

More than 80,000 low-income seniors across Canada who applied for CERB during the pandemic, have been hit by the

sudden loss or drastic cut of the GIS because the government considers the pandemic benefits as income for GIS purposes.

As a result, some seniors also lost other low-income benefits

Jenny Kwan, Member of Parliament for Vancouver East

such as annual bus passes.

When the federal government launched the CERB program, it never warned the applicants that collecting CERB would affect

their GIS and other low-income benefits in the future, nor did the government provide any universal appeal process for the affected

applicants.

GIS recipients are supposed to be able to earn up to $5,000 before their GIS is reduced. In addition, 50% of the next $10,000 of income will also be exempt. That means seniors should be able to earn up to $10,000 while still receiving benefits under the GIS. Yet somehow this exemption does not apply to CERB or EI-CRB income.

The federal government calculates the amount of GIS for the coming year in July each year, so the reduced amount of GIS will

remain for one year. It will not be adjusted until the government makes another evaluation and calculation in July next year.

Seniors facing GIS loss or reduction can seek help from MP in

their riding, asking the MP office to submit an urgent request to recalculate their 2020 income, as well as urge the government to fix the flawed policies.