By Ala Abdulkarem
Published March 2023
In September 2019 Lee entered Canada with her two children, where she claimed refugee protection a month later. With the help of some friends here and there she was able to get temporary shelter in Kitchener but soon had to move to Hamilton to find accommodation which fit within the very little amount of social assistance that she was able to access through Ontario Works.
Lee is one of many refugees who are not able to access the Canada Child Benefit because their immigration status makes them ineligible. A generous community member was able to assist Lee and her two children to survive by renting them his basement in Hamilton. The owner of the house then contracted COVID-19 and did not survive. Lee then lost this housing because the house was sold.
In August 2022 Lee came to The Working Centre to find support to file her taxes. Initially it seemed to be a simple 2021 tax return but as we untangled the layers it was clear there were more complexities.
As we went through the paperwork, we noticed that she had never filed any taxes. Lee had very limited information about her rights in Canada. The language barrier and limited awareness of the Canadian system made it difficult to navigate all of this on her own.
We assisted Lee in filing income tax returns for 2019, 2020 and 2021 and we were almost on our way to saying good-bye when I asked her; “By the way what happened to your refugee claim?“
This question opened up an opportunity to understand that Lee had been granted refugee protection in February 2021, and had been granted Permanent Resident status in March 2022. Lee did not realize that this meant she now was allowed to apply for benefits which would significantly increase the household stability for her and her children.
We made another appointment to complete the Canada Child Benefit application and to clarify other eligible credits. This included emphasizing that she needed to apply for these each year when she completes her taxes. After navigating these application pathways Lee was eligible for $23,105 in benefits retroactively. She would not have been able to access this income without support.
Now Lee has access to her account with CRA, and she knows how this account can help her access supports for her family. She is happy with the secured amount of benefits which she can easily view for the upcoming months to plan for her household. Her children shared a thank you note to reflect their gratitude for the support we were glad to be able to provide.
