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OTTAWA – The government has a warning for those who unduly apply for both Employment Insurance and the new Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB): we will find you, and we will recoup the money.

“We don’t think there is intent to fraud the system in most cases, but there will be some who will try to take advantage of it. We will know who got too much money, and we will go and ask for that money back at some point. It’s very highly likely that we will find them,” explained Janick Cormier, Director of Communications for the Minister of National Revenue, Diane Lebouthillier.

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As of Monday, Canadians who have lost their revenue because of the COVID-19 pandemic can apply via the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to receive monthly payment of $2,000 for up to four months. This is being done through CERB, which was announced by the Trudeau government in late March.

But there are two ways to apply for the new benefit: either directly through the CRA’s website, or by applying for Employment Insurance (EI) — for those who are eligible — which will automatically be transferred into the CERB payments.