Saskatchewan woman mistakenly declared dead by Service Canada

At first, Coreen Shatz thought it was funny when she called Service Canada to apply for EI benefits only to find out that according to their records she was dead.

As reality hit she realized that she won’t be able to get paid, apply for EI or get student loans. Shatz is a medical health professional who recently started school at Sask. Polytech to upgrade her qualifications.

“I have two kids, I live out of town, I drive to school so financially its really putting me in a tight spot, I have a car payment, a mortgage, I don’t know if I am going to be able to make ends meet,” she said.

Shatz said she has to come up with a whole list of documents to prove that she is alive. After that, she has to reinstate her SIN number which is a long process.

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She added she’s been struggling these past few weeks and doesn’t know how long she can go without getting paid. Service Canada reps told her she’s been marked dead since July 2019

According to Shatz, the error happened in the Canada pension plan department which she says she still pays into every month.

“It’s a lot. I don’t know if I can provide for my kids, I don’t know if I can provide for my kids, put me in a really tight spot.”

She is hoping the situation is resolved soon so that she can go on with her life continue school and go back to work. “I hope it doesn’t happen to anyone else, it’s a nightmare.”

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In a statement to Global News Service Canada said they’ve launched an investigation into the case but didn’t provide a timeline for completion.

“The Department contacted the individual to discuss the details of her case.  If an error is confirmed following completion of the investigation, Service Canada will subsequently correct the client’s information in the Social Insurance Registry and notify the client once finalized,” the statement reads.

They also say that if there is an interruption in payment for any reason, Service Canada works in an expedited manner to provide the benefit to the client.

They call these situations “rare” and usually the result of human error, The statement says that if it they learn a mistake has been made the error is corrected “immediately” but it’s not feeling immediate to Shatz.