Feds working on ‘wrinkle’ that excluded AISH recipients from $500 rent top up

The federal government is working on a "policy wrinkle" that made Albertans who rely on AISH payments ineligible for the $500 rent top-up payment.

The federal government is working on a “policy wrinkle” that made Albertans who rely on Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) payments ineligible for the $500 rent top-up payment.

In December 2022, the Government of Canada opened applications for the one-time top-up as part of the Canada Housing Benefit (CHB) program — an initiative that would put $500 in the pockets of low-income renters as rent costs soar across the country.

To qualify, renting families must have a net income of less than $35,000 a year or renting individuals must make less than $20,000. AISH recipients receive just a few hundred dollars over that annually.

“There’s a wrinkle in the policy,” said Edmonton MP and Liberal minister Randy Boissonnault, while in Edmonton for a tourism announcement Tuesday.

“What’s happened is — we set the threshold at — you have to be making $20,000 and less to have access to the $500 top up. In the case of AISH recipients here in Alberta, they actually make $20,244.

“This is a terrible policy wrinkle. I don’t like it. I’m working with (the ministries of) Finance and Housing to figure out a solution to solve it.”

When Global News reached out in December, the office of the federal minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion and CMHC provided a joint statement, saying the one-time top-up to the CHB would help nearly two million renters who are struggling with the cost of housing.

The statement also said: “this measure is a top-up to the already existing CHB, which includes the Canada-Alberta Housing Benefit. This federally-led and jointly funded program is administered directly to Albertans in need of rental assistance, based on low incomes determined through criteria available on the government of Alberta’s website.”