The false email reads:
“Only in Canada. Do not apply for your old age pension. Apply to be a refugee. It is interesting that the federal government provides a single refugee with a monthly allowance of $1,890.00 and each can get an additional $580.00 in social assistance for a total of $2,470.00.
“This compares very well to a single pensioner who, after contributing to the growth and development of Canada for 40 or 50 years, can only receive a monthly maximum of $1,012.00 in old age pension and Guaranteed Income Supplement.
“Maybe our pensioners should apply as refugees!” the email concludes.
Or maybe not, since all the information in the email is bogus.
Refugees do not get $2,470 a month — not even one-quarter of that amount.
A single employable refugee claimant in B.C. would actually get a maximum of just $610 on social assistance — $235 for expenses and up to $375 for shelter.
That’s a long way from the almost $30,000 a year the email wrongly claims and significantly less than any Canadian pensioner receives.
From Bill Tieleman comes news of a viral email making the rounds. Targeting seniors, it claims refugee claimants get more money than pensioners do.
The email, as Bill makes clear, is completely bogus… but that hasn’t stopped it from mutating into an American and Australian version.
If you get a copy, please don’t forward it. Set whoever sent it to you straight. And maybe ask them to check around before they forward another piece of misinformation.
