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Difference between revisions of "Outstanding Warrants and Welfare"

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{{Dial-A-Law TOC|expanded = criminal}}
{{Dial-A-Law TOC|expanded = criminal}}
This script explains that, as of June 1, 2010, you cannot get welfare in BC if there is an outstanding warrant for your arrest. It describes when the rule applies and the exceptions to it.
If there is a warrant for your arrest, you may not be able to get welfare benefits. Learn when this rule applies, and options to deal with an outstanding warrant. 
Understand your legal rights
If you have an outstanding warrant for your arrest
Under the law in BC, if there is a warrant for your arrest anywhere in Canada, you may not be able to get welfare in BC. It depends on the type of offence involved.
You aren’t eligible for welfare if there is an arrest warrant issued:
under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, or
under any other Canadian law in relation to an indictable offence.
Indictable offences are the more serious ones, usually under the Criminal Code or the law on illegal drugs. They include aggravated assault, theft over $5,000, drug trafficking, and murder.
If an arrest warrant for you is outstanding and falls in one of these categories, you can be cut off from (and ineligible for) welfare benefits until you take steps to deal with the warrant. The welfare benefits affected include income assistance, disability assistance, hardship assistance, and supplements.
There are exceptions
Some people can still get welfare even if they have an outstanding warrant falling in one of the named categories. The warrant provision in the welfare law doesn’t apply to:
pregnant women,
people in the end stage of a terminal illness, or
someone under age 18.
The family of a person with an outstanding warrant is still eligible for welfare.
When you apply for welfare
When you apply for welfare, you have to say if there is an outstanding warrant for your arrest issued under:
Canada’s immigration law, or
another Canadian law in relation to an indictable offence.
If you don’t tell the truth, you may have to repay any welfare benefits you receive, and you could face criminal charges. You also have to agree that the government can check the information you report.
But you may not know if you have an outstanding warrant. For example, perhaps there was a warrant for your arrest. But sometimes charges are stayed, with the prosecutor deciding not to proceed with the charges. When that happens, warrants are cancelled. A warrant can be cancelled without you knowing about it. As a result, you can’t assume you still have an active warrant.
Or you may know there’s a warrant, but not know if it’s in relation to an indictable offence. (Less serious offences are called summary conviction offences. Some offences are hybrid offences, meaning the prosecutor can choose to proceed either summarily or by indictment.) 
So the most accurate answer may be that you don’t know if there’s an outstanding arrest warrant falling in one of the named categories. The government can then check for any outstanding warrants for your arrest and what type of offence they are for.
Dealing with an outstanding warrant
How you deal with an outstanding warrant depends on the facts of the case and the offence you are charged with. You have various options.
You can call the prosecutor in the location where the warrant was issued to see if they might drop the underlying criminal charges (which would cancel the warrant).  
Or you can go back to that place to deal with the warrant.
Or if you have a relevant warrant in another province, you can “waive in” your charges to BC so you can attend court here to clear the warrant and deal with the charges. (You can only waive charges into BC if you intend to plead guilty to them.)
You should get legal advice before you decide what to do. See below for options for legal help.
If you can’t get welfare because of an outstanding warrant
You can challenge the government’s decision
If the government says you can’t get welfare or it cuts you off from welfare, you have the right to challenge their decision. See our information on reconsiderations and appeals of income assistance, no. 288.
Short-term financial help
You may be able to get two kinds of financial supplements if you show “undue hardship”. 
You can apply for a repayable monthly supplement, if you can show that without financial help you will experience undue hardship. This assistance can be provided for three months, with the possibility of three additional months in exceptional circumstances.
You may also be able to get a repayable transportation supplement so you can go back to the place where the warrant is outstanding and deal with it.
Common questions
Do I have to consent to a warrant check by the welfare Ministry?
Yes. The application for welfare asks you to provide the welfare Ministry with written consent to check if you have any relevant warrants. If you do not consent, you will not be eligible for welfare. 
Get help
With legal advice
You can apply to the Legal Services Society to see if you qualify under legal aid for a criminal lawyer to take your case or give you some advice about a warrant.
Toll-free: 1-866-577-2525
Web: legalaid.bc.ca
With a welfare appeal
For help in challenging a decision about your eligibility for welfare, you could seek out an advocate. Advocates are community workers trained to help people, including with the paperwork involved. PovNet has a Find an Advocate Map at povnet.org. Clicklaw’s HelpMap lists dozens of advocates in BC.
The Community Legal Assistance Society (CLAS) may be able to help you if you have been denied welfare due to a warrant and you have lost your welfare appeal.
Web: clasbc.net
More information
The Community Legal Assistance Society publishes a factsheet on “Welfare and Outstanding Warrants”.
Web: clasbc.net
The Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction is responsible for welfare in BC.
Toll-free: Call Enquiry BC at 1-800-663-7867
Web: gov.bc.ca/sdpr


==What is a warrant?==
A court document that authorizes the police to arrest a person.


==What is an outstanding warrant?==
A warrant for a person who has not been arrested.


==What is welfare?==
[updated August 2017]
In this script, welfare means income assistance, hardship assistance, disability assistance, and other types of financial help under the BC Employment and Assistance Program.
 
==How does an outstanding warrant affect welfare?==
As of June 1, 2010, if there is an outstanding arrest warrant for you for an indictable or hybrid offence anywhere in Canada, you cannot get welfare in BC. You have to do something about the warrant before you can get welfare. This is in [http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/02040_01#section15.2 section 15.2] of the ''[http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/02040_01 Employment and Assistance Act]'' and [http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/02041_01#section14.2 section 14.2] of the ''[http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/02041_01 Employment and Assistance for Persons with Disabilities Act]''.
 
'''Indictable offences''' are the more serious ones, usually under the ''[http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/FullText.html Criminal Code]'' or the ''[http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-38.8/index.html Controlled Drugs and Substances Act]''. They include aggravated assault, theft over $5000, drug trafficking, and murder. Less serious offences are called summary offences. Some offences, such as assault, assault causing bodily harm, theft under $5000, and breaking and entering a non-dwelling house can be either indictable or summary – they are called '''hybrid offences'''. The prosecutor can choose to proceed either summarily or by indictment in these matters.
 
The rule prohibiting welfare payments if there’s an outstanding arrest warrant also applies to warrants under the ''Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada)''.
 
==How does the government know if there is an outstanding warrant for your arrest?==
You have to say if you have any outstanding warrants when you apply for welfare and when you report monthly as you receive welfare. If you don’t tell the truth, you can be penalized and lose payments. You also have to agree that the government can check the information you report.
 
But you may not know if you have an outstanding warrant. For example, even if there was a warrant for your arrest, it may have been canceled if the prosecutor “stayed” the charge (did not proceed with it). Or you may know there’s a warrant, but not know if it’s for an indictable or hybrid offence. So the most accurate answer may be that you don’t know if there’s an outstanding warrant for your arrest. The government can then check for any outstanding warrants for your arrest and what type of offence they are for.
 
==Dealing with an outstanding warrant==
How you deal with an outstanding warrant depends on the facts of the case and the offence you are charged with. You have various options. For example, you can call the prosecutor in the location where the warrant was issued to ask if the warrant can be canceled. Or you can go back to that place to deal with it. Or you can talk to a prosecutor in BC about resolving the warrant.
 
You should get legal advice before you decide what to do. For details, check the [http://www.clasbc.net/ Community Legal Assistance Society] website.
 
==Appeals==
If the government says you can’t get welfare or it cuts you off from welfare, you can appeal that decision. First, you ask for a reconsideration. If that doesn’t work, you can appeal to the [http://www.eaat.ca/home Employment and Assistance Appeal Tribunal]. Check script [[Income Assistance: Reconsiderations and Appeals (Script 288)|288]], “Income Assistance: Reconsiderations and Appeals”, for more information.
 
If you lose the reconsideration and the appeal, you may be able to get legal help from the [http://www.clasbc.net/ Community Legal Assistance Society]. Check its ''[http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/clastest/pages/79/attachments/original/1401252000/Outstanding_warrants_fact_sheet_FINAL.pdf?1401252000 Outstanding Warrants]'' factsheet.
 
==Exceptions==
The family of a person with an outstanding warrant is still eligible for welfare. Children, pregnant women, and people in the end stage of a terminal illness can still get welfare if there is an outstanding warrant for their arrest.
 
==Financial help if you can’t get welfare because of an outstanding warrant==
You may be able to get a repayable monthly supplement for up to 3 months to avoid undue hardship (or for up to 6 months in exceptional circumstances).
 
You may also be able to get a repayable transportation supplement so you can to go back to the place where the warrant is outstanding and deal with it.
 
If the government says you can’t get these two supplements, you can request reconsideration, but if that fails no appeal may be made to the Employment and Assistance Appeal Tribunal.
 
The rules about warrants are complex. For legal advice, consult a lawyer.


==More information==
'''The above was last reviewed for legal accuracy by [https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/organizational-structure/ministries-organizations/ministries/social-development-poverty-reduction Daphna Mills] and [https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/organizational-structure/ministries-organizations/ministries/social-development-poverty-reduction James Henry], Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction.'''
Check the following websites about how an outstanding warrant may make you ineligible for income assistance:
*The BC government webpage on ''[http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/policies-for-government/bcea-policy-and-procedure-manual/eligibility/warrants Warrants]''.
*The BC government webpage on [http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/family-social-supports/income-assistance income assistance].
*[http://www.clasbc.net/ Community Legal Assistance Society] (CLAS) and its factsheet on ''[http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/clastest/pages/79/attachments/original/1401252000/Outstanding_warrants_fact_sheet_FINAL.pdf?1401252000 Outstanding Warrants]''.


You can apply to the [http://www.lss.bc.ca/ Legal Services Society] (LSS) for legal aid to see if you are eligible for a criminal lawyer to take your case, or at least give you some advice about a warrant.
*Phone the LSS province-wide Call Centre at 604.408.2172 (Greater Vancouver) 1.866.577.2525 (elsewhere in BC), or
*Go to a local [http://www.lss.bc.ca/legal_aid/legalAidOffices.php legal aid office].
Also check script [[Income Assistance: Reconsiderations and Appeals (Script 288)|288]], called “Income Assistance: Reconsiderations and Appeals” and script [[Financial Help for People with Disabilities (Script 289)|289]], called “Financial Help for People with Disabilities”.
[updated August 2017]
'''The above was last edited by John Blois.'''
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