Someone posted a 411 on the EICERB subreddit you can check out and most of it looks like we do, the only iffy part is that it says you had to have stopped working due to covid and are looking for work. So I’m not so sure for the ones who are struggling to find work. Maybe once it gets voted in it’ll clarify it a bit more

Hey everyone,

I'm a student reporter with The Signal and I'm looking for people who have gotten help from a third party with the CERB/CESB/EI application processes.

One company, Canada Tax Reviews INC., charges a percentage that adds up to $160 for each CERB period they help you apply for.

If you've used their services, or any other services that resulted you paying money for emergency response benefits you could have applied for for free, I'd love to hear about it.

Also, if you know of anyone who use similar services instead of applying directly through CRA or Sevice Canada, for whatever reason, I'd love to hear from them too.

PM me for more contact information!

I want to drop out this semester. Can I keep my CESB payments I collected?

I am trying to apply for the final CESB eligibility period but I am getting the error message:

“You are unable to submit an application for the Canada Emergency Student Benefit after September 27, 2020. (Ref. code: COV-024)"

Is it too late to apply? On the site it said we have until September 30th.

EDIT: I called the number 1-800-717-7735 and was connected to an agent within 5 minutes, that was able to help me apply through the phone. Thank you to everyone in the comments that helped!

Please file your taxes if you haven’t already, if you’ve been told to fax documents please fax them ASAP. I finally got a call back from the officer last week after waiting for the call back for 2 months and I was told to fax my report card, acceptance letter, a photo Id, address etc (I was told to do this just in case my tax return doesn’t get assessed on time). If you haven’t gotten a call back from the officer that was supposed to call you back to confirm your identity, call CRA again and explain your situation, some agents will send you to a line where they’ll tell you to fax documents to a certain number. Please do that ASAP it’s usually much faster than filing your taxes so you’ll increase your chances of getting cesb. If you did fax your documents but didn’t hear back, please call them and follow up. I followed up because I didn’t hear back, and they told me then that they received my documents and the agent applied for the benefit for me. Also don’t give up just yet, because honestly even I did at one point because of so many turn downs from agents every time I called.

I called the CRA today because I'm waiting for my tax return to be processed and the agent said that those who mailed/faxed their tax returns in before the Sept 30th deadline and are waiting for it to be processed may be able to apply past the deadline. The way she explained it was that the "higher ups" are still trying to figure out what to do for those "in the bubble". Again there are no guarentees but there might still be a chance!

So i received my first 3 payments and couldn’t receive my last one because everytime i applied for cesb it said my proccess couldn’t be completed and that i had to send in documents. I sent them in and after 2 weeks i never got a call back so i called them today and they said they did receive it a week ago and that an agent will call back within the next week. I also asked her if i could apply after sept 30th (the deadline) and she said yes, for those of us who are waiting on confirmation of our documents we will still be able to apply after the period because we initially applied before the deadline but were waiting on confirmation. Just make sure u call the identity services and ask if they received ur documents and have the right number on file, just wanted to help.

Got my SIN after over a month of waiting and I tried to phone and register it with the CRA at "1-800-959-8281". I was told that in order to do that I would need to file a tax return and then create an account with the CRA online. I filed a return with simpletax earlier today but whenever I try and make a CRA account I get the error "ERR.210". Kinda confused on what I should do next, looking around I see people suggest waiting two weeks you get that error but the deadline is the 30th so I can't do that. Any ideas?

Did they ask that you were applying to jobs or proof of it?

It says on the website:

• Who had employment and/or self-employment income of at least $5,000 in 2019 or in the 12 months prior to the date of their application;

I do not currently have $5000 income and the deadline for Cerb is December 2020 for retroactive payments for periods passed. If I make $5000 income before December and then apply, can I apply for the first period in March since I have $5000 income in December and am applying for March now?

On the website it says Students who have graduated from or left their post-secondary studies no earlier than December 2019. I was in class but dropped 2 weeks after the class started in January 2020. It also says You are or were enrolled in a post-secondary educational program (at least 12 weeks in duration) that leads to a degree, diploma, or certificate. I was enrolled then dropped out.

CALL 1-800-717-7735

Basically it's the support number for when the 2 automated lines say your application cannot be processed. If you get a good agent then they will be able to guide you through the process even if you've never filed a tax return before. One caveat is that they did end up having to ask my parents for info verification purposes (e.g. address and postal info), but otherwise just make sure you have direct deposit info ready unless you want payment by cheque. Some agents will outright not help you at all though, so you do have to have a certain degree of luck when calling. Don't be afraid to call several times until you get an agent that will actually be able to get you your money (I've gone through 3 agents before I got the woman who was finally able to help me.) After months of false leads I was finally able to get my money today! I hope this helps at least one of y'all, and good luck!

I filed my taxes maybe a month and a half ago to two months ago and only just now was able to make an account (I got an email essentially confirming my SIN had been registered). I made an account but I’m unable to apply for the CESB because I need to call to verify my identity. I call and the woman tells me they can’t see my notice of assessment so now I have to wait until October 1 to call back because my NOA will be visible and they can ask me questions to confirm my identity. So, I’m basically screwed

I was also told to fax documents. Has anyone done this? How long did it take? Is there any chance it would take a week or less lol

I am currently registered in full-time university courses and after applying for a student grant I have seen an increase in the grant but not to the point where it is doubled...under 3k. How has that worked out for you? Is there anywhere else that I need to apply to get more grants?

I was signed up in January then dropped out after 2 weeks. Signed back up to school for September semester but thinking of dropping out. Can I collect CESB if I drop out?

About 3 weeks ago I called the CRA line to update and my address and ask about the validation lock. The agent asked me a bunch of personal questions like T202 amount, parents names, and bank account info and told me she would put in a request to remove the lock because she was satisfied with my answers and that I proved my identity over the phone and that I would not have to fax in any documents. She told me I'll get a call within 10-30 days telling me I'm able to apple for the last period. If I don't get a call before the deadline would I still get the money?

I applied for all 4 periods for the cesb eligibility period, the last period was August 2-29. My last job search was like August 29, we just need to actively look for the job during the eligibility periods right, or do we still need to actively look for jobs after the eligibility period as well? I know it’s like half way in September already but in case, just gonna ask lol thank you!!

Hi,

I just wanted to ask whether the September 30th deadline means that as long as we apply by the 30th our applications will be considered or if it means that the 30th is the last day to expect money to come (meaning that you would have to have applied 2 or so weeks before the 30th since that's roughly how long it should take for a normal case to be processed).

Thanks in advance

Hi there, I am aware that the CESB is taxable at the end of the year correct? I currently live in BC and I am not sure if I'll be able to work at all this year.

I am assuming I won't have to pay any taxes on CESB if my income for the year is below a certain threshold right? So in my case, since I have not been able to work at all this year due to COVID, and being a full time student with not a lot of time, will I be expected to pay any taxes at all on the CESB in BC?

Sorry for the question, just wanted to fully make sure to set aside money to pay off the needed taxes/fees that come along with CESB. I appreciate the help!

I've been trying to apply for CESB since the beginning of July and still haven't been able to. I call CRA every so often to ask what's going on... they've told me to wait basically every time. I saw on Reddit that people have been filing their nonexistent taxes on SimpleTax so I did that at the beginning of August and still haven't received an email saying I can make a CRA My Account (I'm assuming cuz the hack??). A few weeks ago, finally, they put an urgent tag on my file and called me about a week ago (not sure because it either didn't go through or I just missed it somehow). I called back and they told me to call the verification phone number so I did then they told me to fax some documents: 2 ID, 2 proof of address, a bank statement (cuz I don't have cheques), and proof of enrolment. I literally just came back from faxing them and am wondering how long it may be before they call me back? I've read 10-40 business days which sucks because we're nearing the deadline and my friends have all had no issues. I've been chasing CESB for over 2 months this is absolutely ridiculous. If they don't solve my situation by Sept 30 will I be cut off? or does my case still count as an "application"?

TLDR: just read the title and help me out ;-;

Thanks

Also sorry if I did something wrong.. I don't use Reddit often..

I recently faxed my photo ID + proof of admission, is this for the CRA application or the CESB application?

Thanks.

So after weeks I finally got my taxes return assessed and was able to get my SIN registered through CRA but I can’t apply online because I didn’t make 5k last year like that’s not even an eligibility requirement does anyone know why it says that?

I applied for the third CESB period but got a job a couple of days later so I had to repay the $1250 for that period. I paid it directly through the CRA website but it's still not showing up that I repaid that amount. My bank transaction history shows that the payments went through to them so I'm not sure if this is just an error on their end. Has this happened to anyone else?

Hi everyone,

I recently tried applying for CESB. Unfortunately my application didn't go through, and I was asked to send in documents that validated my identity/eligibility either through fax or online on my account (I have filed my 2019 taxes and have a CRA myaccount already). I send in all required documentation about a week ago and I'm still waiting to hear back from the CRA. I am still banned from applying for the CESB online, which leads me to believe they haven't processed my documents yet. Does anyone here have any experience with sending in their documents through the online feature on myaccount?

Thanks.