Claims extracted
19
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
5%
1 of 19 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
63/100
Global News's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Economy/Business
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
The Office of the Auditor General of Canada says the federal government wrote off billions of dollars last year in COVID-19 benefits that it no longer expects to see repaid.
asserted
it → say → that
The federal government is trying to recoup payments made to Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic in cases where it determines someone was overpaid or was ineligible for the benefit.
asserted
someone → try → benefit
But when the government expects not to be paid back, it writes off the debt and strikes it from its ledgers.
asserted
it → expect → ledgers
Audits of the government’s consolidated financial statements for the last fiscal year show Ottawa wrote off $4.5 billion tied to COVID-19 benefits — up sharply from $26 million the previous year.
asserted
Ottawa → show → million
The government’s financial statements for 2025-26 were published on Friday — a day after Ottawa tabled its 2026 federal budget — as part of its annual public accounts.
asserted
Ottawa → publish → accounts
Auditor General Karen Hogan’s office also released its commentary that day on the government’s previous fiscal year.
asserted
office → release → year
Hogan warned that Ottawa is also expecting a larger portion of business loans from the pandemic will not be repaid.
asserted
portion → warn → pandemic
The government’s allowance for potential losses on loans through the Canada Emergency Business Account, or CEBA, increased to $5.6 billion in the last fiscal year, up from $5.4 billion previously.
asserted
allowance → increase → billion
That’s out of a total of $7.2 billion in outstanding loans.
asserted
That → ’ → loans
Businesses could get nearly a third of the value of their interest-free CEBA loans forgiven if they repaid before the applicable deadline, which the government extended twice.
uncertain
government → get → which
But if they hadn’t paid back the amount by then, the loans started to accrue interest.
asserted
loans → pay → interest
Hogan’s office flagged a number of other outstanding issues from the government’s last fiscal year.
asserted
office → flag → year
The government failed to meet its promise to clear the backlog of pay issues related to the former Phoenix pay system that were more than a year old.
asserted
that → fail → system
While the number of outstanding issues has trended lower, there were still more than 110,000 transactions awaiting processing for more than a year as of March 31, 2026.
asserted
number → trend → March
“These issues need to be addressed to support timely and accurate pay to employees as the government prepares to transition to a new pay and benefits system called Dayforce beginning in July 2027,” the audit read.
asserted
audit → need → July
The auditor general also has been raising red flags for more than two decades about the ability of the Department of National Defence to keep track of its inventory.
asserted
general → raise → inventory
A promised bar code system to keep track of assets is still five years away, the office noted last week.
asserted
office → promise → assets
Errors in the quantities and valuations of the assets resulted in a $751 million understatement of the department’s deficit for the last fiscal year, the audit showed.
asserted
audit → result → year
Other issues identified by the auditor general touch on Crown corporations, and a lack of risk management, board oversight and overall performance measurement and reporting.
asserted
issues → identify → management
The Aporia
