CERB never did reduce Income Assistance. Right now, if someone receives a tax refund, it is counted as income. If the Government of Canada takes that back, it's still counted as tax income. The Income Assistance Program does not pay debts. However, the Government of Canada has stated that they are not going to be clawing back any of the monthly or quarterly tax credits that people received, such as GST or Child Tax Benefit, so it would likely only be the income tax refund. For the majority of clients, that's worth $350, so that would be $350 out of the $1,200.
The Government of Canada is taking a compassionate approach to the collection of these debts, and I encourage any residents who have to pay CERB back to contact the Government of Canada and create a payment plan so that they can avoid hits like that. Right now, they're not strong arming. They're not taking a very aggressive approach, and they understand that not everyone is in a situation to repay this money. There are financial hardship provisions to ensure that a person is not put into undue financial hardship because of recovery of government debt. However, in order to get that from the CRA, you have to reach out to them, so I encourage anyone who has to pay CERB back, to reach out and make payment arrangements.