Ontario gave hundreds of COVID-19 payments to the wrong people, acting ombudsman says

A new report by Ontario’s acting ombudsman says hundreds of parents were unfairly denied payments during the COVID-19 pandemic because the province gave the money to someone else.

In a report released this week, Barbara Finlay says more than $2 billion was distributed to parents and guardians between 2020 and 2023 through five different programs meant to help children whose education was disrupted during the pandemic.

Finlay says her office started receiving complaints weeks after the launch of the first program, for a total of more than 200 by the time all five wrapped up in 2023.

She says the programs didn’t take into consideration that some parents might live separately, creating a situation where whoever applied first would receive the payment without any verification that they had custody of the child.

The report says several parents couldn’t receive the payments they were entitled to because relatives or even strangers with no role in the child’s care had already claimed the benefit.

Still, it says the programs were largely successful in supporting families in need despite the fact that they were “plagued by problems” that were replicated at each phase rather than being fixed.

The programs, which were implemented under intense time pressure with insufficient resources, rolled over eligibility criteria for receiving the benefit, meaning that a parent who was denied money under one program would not be eligible for the next one, Finlay’s office said in a news release.

“Hundreds of families were denied benefits to which they were entitled,” Finlay said in the report.

“The Ministry (of Education) does not know the exact amount, because it failed to make any effort to track improperly distributed funds.”

The acting ombudsman made a long list of recommendations to the ministry, including that it design a comprehensive plan with adequate staffing, establish clear eligibility criteria for applicants and put in place a thorough verification mechanism to make sure future direct payments reach the right hands.

The ministry has accepted all 14 recommendations, the news release said.

Sharif Hassan, The Canadian Press