Applicants declare the type and amount of income received by all members of the household unit. By signing the EMP 3428 Income Support Application, applicants declare the information they have provided is true and complete.

Applicants are informed at intake of the requirement to access all income they are eligible to receive. Clients can access federal incentives such as the Disability Tax Credit, Canada Child Benefit or quarterly GST Credits through the annual filing of income tax. When income tax is filed, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) sends out a Notice of Assessment (NOA). Clients must submit their NOA annually to confirm this has been done.

Recipients report the type and amount of income received by all members of the household unit using the Automated Reporting for Clients (ARC) on a monthly basis.  Through monthly reporting, recipients declare the information they have provided is true and complete.

In addition to the above, clients provide the standard documents required by policy, and any additional documents the worker determines necessary.

Recipients who are exempt from monthly reporting provide changes in their income to their worker either verbally, in writing or by submitting documents substantiating the income.

Workers advise clients they are required to disclose all household income including income not specifically requested for monthly reporting.

POLICY

All IS clients are required to submit an annual NOA in order to maintain program eligibility. A NOA is obtained from CRA after filing an income tax return.

Note: It can take up to three months to receive a NOA, depending on how the client filed their taxes, how current they are on annual filings, and when they file.

All IS clients are required to provide substantiation when requested.

IS clients using the ARC are not required to submit verification of any income they report in the ARC however they may be asked to verify at a later date if selected for a post verification review.  When requested by the worker, IS clients will provide all relevant documentation to substantiate income.

Verifying Income
The NOA from the CRA contains income information for the previous year. This information is used to verify income during application/intake and as part of ongoing eligibility determination.

The information from the NOA is used by the worker to verify income amounts, or to confirm no income exists.

When reviewing the NOA, the worker notes any discrepancies on file. The NOA information can trigger deeper investigation when information is present on the report that is not consistent with what is reported on ARC. In these cases a further review may be necessary. For example, income is present, but no income was declared to IS.

The NOA may not reflect the current financial situation or may require additional documentation to clarify information on the NOA. For specific types of documentation, see below.

Employment Income
Clients must substantiate employment income when requested by a worker. Employment income is substantiated by providing documents such as a letter from their employer, paystubs, or direct deposit statement which contain:      

• Name of employer
• Pay period
• Date pay was received 
• Gross pay 
• Description and amount of mandatory and statutory deductions
• Net pay

The worker records the information in Compass Comments and returns the documents to the client.

Other Income
When requested, clients who have other income, which varies from month to month, may be required to provide documents to substantiate these variances.  The worker records the information in Compass Comments and returns the documents to the client.

Clients who have other income, which remains constant, are required to provide the initial documents and further substantiation is only required when a change occurs. This income must still be reported during each monthly reporting.

When the other income has no supporting documentation then the client’s verbal statement or ARC entry is sufficient. The information is:

• Source and type of income
• Pay period
• Date income was received
• Gross income
• Description and amount of deductions, if applicable
• Net income
• Family member it applies to

The following are various types of income and examples of acceptable substantiation. This is not a complete list and workers are expected to determine what is reasonable. Asterisks indicate internal sources for verifying income.

PROCEDURES

Workers verify a client’s income by:

• ensuring the documentation received is sufficient to determine eligibility and level of benefits; and 
• considering information obtained from data matching or other sources; and
• documenting all relevant observations and information in Compass Comments.