From April 2020 to June 2022, Masse received more than $41,000 in government benefits — only to later get a letter from the Canada Revenue Agency saying he wasn’t eligible for the money, and that he had to pay it back.
According to the CRA, Masse did not meet the minimum net earnings of $5,000.
“I was stunned. I couldn’t believe it,” said Masse. “I would have never applied for anything that I did not qualify for.”
In early 2024, after months of back and forth, the CRA agreed he was entitled to some of the money. But he remains on the hook for about $27,000.


I took a single 2k cheque late 2021 and have had zero issues
Dude in the article clearly didn’t do a risk assessment
No, he clearly did not qualify.
Determining whether he qualified or not, that’s the risk he took
Pretty simple. He did not make the required $5000 the previous year to qualify.
And still he took the jump
Either poor or zero risk assessment. Man’s probably thought “hey free money” and now wishes he weighed the costs