'Really strange': Sask. resident receives affordability cheque addressed to dead family member

A Saskatoon woman is one of the growing number of Saskatchewan residents receiving affordability cheques addressed to dead family members.

Kate Germin, who lives in Saskatoon, said she received a $500 affordability cheque from the government on Nov. 14. However, it was not addressed to her, it was addressed to her mother, who died in February of 2021.

“I thought it was a mistake,” Germin said.

“So I phoned the number on the cheque that gets me to the Saskatchewan Finance Department and they said ‘no, no that’s not a mistake and here’s what you do.'”

According to Germin, the operator told her to bring her mother’s death certificate along with other documentation to the bank so the cheque could be successfully deposited.

“Well I said ‘sorry but that’s really strange,’” she said, recalling the phone call.

The Government of Saskatchewan provided a statement to CTV News, explaining the criteria for the sent cheques revolved around 2021 income tax records.

“If an individual’s income tax was filed for 2021, their information would have been provided for cheques distribution, even if those individuals have passed away,” the statement read.

“There is no perfect database we can access as government and we decided that the tax system was probably the most current and reliable database we could use,” Minister of Finance Donna Harpauer told reporters on Thursday.

The government also explained that the cheques could be cashed for any deceased individual.

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If the estate of the deceased person is closed, the executor can return the cheque to the Ministry of Finance or re-open the estate to cash the cheque.

Germin said she doesn’t understand why the government went ahead with the provision without confirming all recipients were alive.

“If they wanted to use the 2021 income tax filing as a criteria they’ve got to have the means to filter out the dead people, they have to,” she said.

“They couldn’t even be bothered to check whether or not that includes people who are deceased? It doesn’t make sense to me.”

According to the government, speed was a priority during the cheque distribution.

“Due to the volume of cheques, cross-checking the data would significantly postpone delivering this affordability assistance to Saskatchewan residents,” the statement said.

Germin said the distribution of the cheques by the provincial government was misguided.

“Number one, I don’t think the money should be spent this way period. It should be spent on our troubled health system and education system, and people who don’t need the money are getting 500 bucks across the board,” she said.

“Some couples don’t need it at all and they’re getting a thousand. The homeless people that didn’t file income tax in 2021 need it and they’re not getting it at all.”

Germin told CTV News she intends to donate the $500 cheque addressed to her mother to a local needed situation, likely the foodbank.

According to Minister Harpauer, approximately 300,000 cheques have been mailed out as of Nov. 16.

All cheques are expected to be sent within the next two weeks. The province said additional payments may be sent out over the next two to three months to address anyone who filed taxes late or changed their primary mailing address.

The dispersal of cheques is expected to be complete by the end of January.