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Expected to Work/Barriers to Full Employment Policy & Procedures

Published Date: April 01, 2006
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09 Income

Income Support Recipients from Other Provinces and Territories

If an applicant has received IS in another province for a benefit period, then Alberta is not obligated to provide IS for the same benefit period.

In most instances, applicants who have already received their monthly entitlement from another jurisdiction are not eligible for IS from Alberta for that same month.

There are circumstances where duplicate IS from another province is not considered as a resource at intake, or as income in calculating a repayment, if discovered after the file is open.

Circumstances include when a client:

  • Has left an abusive situation.
  • Has moved to accept employment.
  • Has a serious illness and moved to receive support.
  • Is stranded and requires emergency benefits and/or return transportation to their province of origin.


Where client circumstances do not fit the above situations, and the client presents as destitute, the Supervisor may review the case. Approval of benefits in this situation is at the discretion of the Supervisor. Such approval must be entered on EMP 1086 Approval Log.

If income support is issued, and it is later discovered through interprovincial information sharing or some other source that the client received benefits for the same month in another province, a repayment is usually calculated. Since client benefits vary from province to province, the amount received in the other province is treated as income in calculating the repayment.

Interprovincial Information Sharing

When agreements have been reached between provinces to share information, reports identifying mutual IS clients are produced. Three types of reports are produced on a monthly basis:

  • SEIP 3610 Alberta Community and Social Services – Alberta and (Name of Province) Match on SIN, Duplicate Periods of Assistance For the Month of (M/Y) – the report lists clients matched by Social Insurance Number
  • SEIP 3620 Alberta Community and Social Services – Alberta and (Name of Province) Match on Last Name, Partial (first three characters) First Name, Birthdate and Sex, Duplicate Periods of Assistance For the Month of (M/Y) – the report lists clients without Social Insurance Numbers, matched by last name, partial first name (first three characters), alias, birthdate and sex
  • Ontario produces their own report and forwards it to Community and Social Services. The name of the report is Matching Ontario Case


The reports are listed by service centre, unit and caseload and provide the worker with personal and financial data for the month the information was matched. When one or both of these reports are received, the worker:

  1. Reviews the information contained in the report

  2. Contacts the client to discuss the circumstances concerning the duplicate benefits. If the person states they are not the person identified on the report and a match has occurred on the SIN, the worker verifies that the SIN has been properly entered into LISA by reviewing the person’s identity through identification on the file. If the SIN is correct on the client’s file, the worker notifies the other province (the phone number is identified on the report), as the SIN on their system may not be correct. If information is not correct on our file, the worker revises the necessary information on LISA.

    Note
    Alberta and the provinces of BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Newfoundland have agreed that the province in which the client is currently residing will take the lead role in pursuing repayments or fraud investigations. If the client’s file is currently active in both provinces, the province with the most recent file open date is responsible to take the necessary action. Subsequent agreements with other provinces are pending.

  3. Applies existing policy to determine whether the circumstances of the client warrant further action (e.g., repayment or a fraud referral).

    Note
    If further information is required, the worker contacts the worker in the other province.

  4. Enters the debt in the Recoveries System, or

  5. Refers the matter to Fraud Investigations if the information received indicates the client is attempting to collect benefits in more than one province or territory and fraud is suspected (e.g., presenting false identification).