Based on the current eligibility rules for CERB, it would appear that single parents who are no longer receiving vital spousal or child support payments due to their ex-partners' income being affected by COVID-19 are not eligible.
Understandably, changes in an individual’s financial circumstances have been magnified during this time. This extends to ex-partners no longer having the income to make their spousal and child support payments, and in effect many single parents are suddenly left scrambling as their income has been severely reduced. Currently, child and spousal support do not qualify as income for the purposes of Employment Insurance (EI), nor as revenue for the purpose of qualifying for CERB.
City TV: Concerns raised about rising cost of rentals for low-income earners: Vancouver MP
A Vancouver NDP MP is sounding the alarm when it comes to rent-geared-to-income housing units, saying incoming changes by the federal government will lead to a severe shortage within the affordable housing market in this country.
Vancouver East MP Jenny Kwan says she’s learned that as of March 31, 2028, Ottawa will be cutting subsidy funding to non-profits that operate buildings that include units for those on a fixed income. Once those suites are vacated, she says the price of those units will be bumped to market rates.
For example, a rental suite that’s going for $650 right now could be increased to $1,800 or more.
Kwan adds these changes are happening right now at some buildings in Metro Vancouver as non-profits try to bank money to prepare for their funding to be slashed in the future.