A view of Centre Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, the seat of Canada’s government, in a file photo. (Matthew Little/The Epoch Times)
Auditor General Karen Hogan says the federal government wrote off billions in COVID-19 benefit overpayments during the last fiscal year, removing the amounts from its accounts as money it does not expect to recover.
The Office of the Auditor General said in a Nov. 6 update on its 2025-26 financial audits that Ottawa wrote off $4.5 billion tied to COVID-19 benefits, which was up sharply from $26 million the previous year.
“Six years after the start of the COVID‑19 pandemic, the government continues to record in its consolidated financial statements significant amounts related to programs that provided financial support to individuals and businesses,” the auditor general wrote.
The report said that when the government determines that a recipient of a COVID-era benefit was overpaid or was not eligible for the funding, it records the amount owed as an account receivable. It also estimates how much of that money it may not be able to collect and records an “allowance for doubtful accounts.”
When the government determines that the amount can no longer be recollected, it writes off the receivable and removes it from its accounts. The $4.5 billion in write-offs reduced both gross receivables for COVID-19 benefit overpayments and the related allowance for doubtful accounts.
The Auditor General’s report also highlighted billions of dollars in outstanding Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) loans, which are due for repayment by Dec. 31, 2026.
Ottawa provided interest-free loans of up to $60,000 to small businesses and not-for-profit organizations through CEBA during the pandemic. Borrowers could qualify to have up to one-third of their loans forgiven if they repaid the remaining balance by the applicable deadline.
The report said Ottawa loaned a total of $49.1 billion in CEBA loans. At the end of the 2025-26 fiscal year, $7.2 billion remained outstanding. The government increased its allowance for potential loan losses to $5.6 billion, up from $5.4 billion the previous year. The allowance represents the amount the government estimates it may not recover.
In December 2025, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) said it was attempting to recover $10 billion in COVID-era benefits given to Canadians who were later found to be ineligible. The agency said around $14 billion was given to individuals who did not qualify for programs like the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) or Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB).
The CRA told The Epoch Times that the outstanding amounts included $5.4 billion related to CERB, $3.2 billion related to CRB, $1.5 billion related to the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB), and $580 million related to the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB), Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit (CWLB) and Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB).
By July 2026, the CRA said it was owed $5.56 billion in outstanding individual benefit payments. That included $2.9 billion related to CERB, $1.8 billion related to CRB, $720 million related to CRCB and $120 million related to CRSB, CWLB, and CESB.