I'm Being Investigated by the Welfare Ministry

From Clicklaw Wikibooks
Revision as of 22:02, 21 October 2011 by AWard (talk)

If the Ministry of Social Development (or the Administering Authority for welfare on an Indian Reserve) believes that you have received welfare benefits you shouldn’t have, they may ask you to repay them (this is called an overpayment). If they believe that you have received the benefit through fraud, they will investigate and may have you charged with an offence under the Criminal Code or provincial welfare laws. Fraud means receiving assistance as a result of providing information that you know is false or misleading.

First steps[edit]

  1. If you are being investigated by the Ministry, contact an advocate for help.
  2. If you are being investigated and think you may be charged with welfare fraud, you should immediately contact a lawyer for advice. Many criminal lawyers (see Yellow pages) will provide some advice at no charge. It is almost always advisable that you don’t discuss the accusation with a Ministry investigator before you have spoken with a lawyer.
  3. If you are charged with welfare fraud under the Criminal Code or the provincial welfare law, look at the part of this Guide under the heading, I’ve been charged with a criminal (or youth) offence and have to go to court.

What happens next?[edit]

The Ministry will continue their investigation and will probably want to speak with you. This can be tricky. You have to provide certain information to the Ministry in order to continue receiving benefits, but it is generally not a good idea to discuss anything with them that could lead to a criminal charge and conviction. Be guided by legal advice, and speak with a welfare advocate about what information you need to provide to the Ministry in order to continue receiving benefits.


Tipsandnotes.png
Take any accusation of welfare fraud very seriously. 'If you collect welfare off-reserve and are convicted of fraud under the Criminal Code (either by pleading guilty or being found guilty after a trial), your welfare benefits will be cut off entirely for life' (the exception is that if you have dependent children or a spouse, your family's benefits will be reduced instead of cut off). If you are convicted of welfare fraud under provincial welfare laws your benefits will be cut off for one year for a first offence, two years for a second offence, and for life for a third offence (the exception is that if you have dependent children or a spouse, your family's benefits will be reduced instead of cut off). [Although the penalties for welfare fraud on an Indian Reserve are not specified, both the courts and the federal government treat welfare fraud on reserve as a serious offence].


A question for LSS: Does a person charged with welfare fraud qualify because the person might “lose their way of earning a living”? Janet or Kat- you should check with LSS but I believe the answer is that LSS will usually cover fraud charges in relation to welfare.

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