Critics question how many New Brunswickers will receive $300 benefit

New Brunswick’s application process for a new, $300 affordability benefit for about one-third of the population is too clunky and complicated, says an anti-poverty advocate.

Randy Hatfield, the executive director of the Human Development Council, fears many of the estimated 250,000 eligible working individuals and families will be left out in the cold.

“Low-income people really have difficulty navigating systems,” he warned. “It’s a burden on people who are unfamiliar with the application process. You have to make it as simple as possible, and I’m not sure this application process accomplishes that.”

The Higgs Progressive Conservative government issued a media release last week telling people they could begin applying for the affordability benefit, now renamed the N.B. Workers Benefit, on Feb. 27.

But time is ticking. The window to apply closes June 30.

To qualify, applicants must have filed a New Brunswick tax return and had a family net income of $70,000 or less and a family working income of $3,000 or more. Only one benefit will be distributed to each family, with single people considered their own family unit.

“We want to get the funds into the pockets of working New Brunswickers as soon as possible, so it is important to apply early, so we can process your application swiftly,” said Finance Minister Ernie Steeves in the release. “To expedite this process and be able to issue payments beginning in the current fiscal year, the application process is necessary.”

‘OVERWHELMING’

Hatfield wasn’t impressed. To illustrate his point about the burden, he recounted the story of a man he met who shovelled his driveway in Saint John. The man was living in a rooming house three years ago with a monthly income of under $700 a month, barely scraping by. The Human Development Council managed to find him an apartment in a cooperative housing unit with a provincial subsidy.

Recently, both the co-op and the province asked him to re-apply.

“He’s now getting letters saying, ‘We need this by Thursday, we need this, this and this.’ And it’s completely overwhelming for him. You can provide all the notices and directions that you want, but unless you sit in their seat and appreciate what they go through, you’ll never understand. I wouldn’t consider it particularly onerous, but that’s me sitting here with three university degrees. We too often forget the challenge and the digital divide that affects access to programs and benefits.”