Bill C-31

59 ELIZABETH II

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CHAPTER 22

An Act to amend the Old Age Security Act

[Assented to 15th December, 2010]

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

SHORT TITLE

1. This Act may be cited as the Eliminating Entitlements for Prisoners Act.

OLD AGE SECURITY ACT

2. Section 2 of the Old Age Security Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:

“release”, in relation to a person who has been incarcerated, means release from custody on earned remission, at the expiry of a sentence, or on parole or statutory release that has not been terminated or revoked.

3. Section 5 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):

(3) No pension may be paid in respect of a period of incarceration — exclusive of the first month of that period — to a person who is subject to a sentence of imprisonment

(a) that is to be served in a penitentiary by virtue of any Act of Parliament; or

(b) that exceeds 90 days and is to be served in a prison, as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Prisons and Reformatories Act, if the government of the province in which the prison is located has entered into an agreement under section 33.1 for the administration of this paragraph.

4. Section 8 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):

(2.1) Despite subsection (1), if the application by a person described in subsection 5(3) is approved while that person is incarcerated, payment of their pension shall commence in respect of the month in which they are released but only after they notify the Minister in writing before or after their release.

5. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 9.1:

9.2 Payment of a pension that is suspended by virtue of subsection 5(3) shall resume in respect of the month in which a pensioner is released but only after they notify the Minister in writing before or after their release.

6. Section 15 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (3.1):

(3.2) The Minister may, after any investigation that the Minister considers necessary, direct, in respect of any month in a payment period, that an application for a supplement be considered and dealt with as though the applicant did not have a spouse or common-law partner on the last day of the previous payment period if the Minister is satisfied that, at any time during the preceding month, the applicant was the spouse or common-law partner of an incarcerated person described in subsection 5(3), except for the month in which the applicant’s spouse or common-law partner is released.

(3.3) A direction made under subsection (3.2) continues to apply in respect of every subsequent month until the month before the month in which the spouse or common-law partner is released. However, the Minister may, after any investigation of the circumstances that the Minister considers necessary, cancel the direction.

(4) Every applicant who is the subject of a direction under subsection (3.2) shall inform the Minister without delay of their spouse or common-law partner’s release.

7. (1) Section 19 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (1):

(1.1) For the purposes of subsection (1), common-law partners do not become former common-law partners if the sole reason for their separation is that one of the partners is an incarcerated person described in subsection 5(3) or paragraph 19(6)(f).

(1.2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(a), a spouse is not considered to be separated from the pensioner if the sole reason for the separation is that the pensioner is an incarcerated person described in subsection 5(3).

(2) Section 19 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (4):

(4.01) If the pensioner is an incarcerated person described in subsection 5(3), their spouse or common-law partner may apply for an allowance individually and, for the purposes of subsection (4), that application shall be considered and dealt with as though it were a joint application of the pensioner and the spouse or common-law partner.

(3) Subsection 19(6) of the Act is amended by striking out “or” at the end of paragraph (d), by adding “or” at the end of paragraph (e) and by adding the following after paragraph (e):

(f) any period of incarceration — exclusive of the first month of that period — during which the spouse or common-law partner is subject to a sentence of imprisonment

(i) that is to be served in a penitentiary by virtue of any Act of Parliament, or

(ii) that exceeds 90 days and is to be served in a prison, as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Prisons and Reformatories Act, if the government of the province in which the prison is located has entered into an agreement under section 33.1 for the administration of this paragraph.

(4) Subsection 19(6.1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(6.1) Paragraph (6)(b) does not apply to a spouse or common-law partner of a pensioner in respect of a month for which a supplement would be payable to the pensioner if

(a) the special qualifying factor of that pensioner for that month were equal to one; or

(b) the pensioner were not precluded from receiving a supplement by virtue of the application of subsection 5(3).

(5) Section 19 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (6.2):

(6.3) Payment of an allowance that is suspended by virtue of paragraph (6)(f) shall resume in respect of the month in which the spouse or common-law partner is released but only if they

(a) have notified the Minister in writing before or after their release; and

(b) continue to be eligible for an allowance.

8. (1) Subsection 21(9) of the Act is amended by adding the following after paragraph (c):

(d) any period of incarceration — exclusive of the first month of that period — during which the survivor is subject to a sentence of imprisonment

(i) that is to be served in a penitentiary by virtue of any Act of Parliament, or

(ii) that exceeds 90 days and is to be served in a prison, as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Prisons and Reformatories Act, if the government of the province in which the prison is located has entered into an agreement under section 33.1 for the administration of this paragraph.

(2) Section 21 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (9.1):

(9.2) Payment of an allowance suspended by virtue of paragraph (9)(d) shall resume in respect of the month in which the survivor is released but only if they

(a) have notified the Minister in writing before or after their release; and

(b) continue to be eligible for an allowance.

9. (1) The definition “monthly joint income” in subsection 22(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

“monthly joint income” of a pensioner and the pensioner’s spouse or common-law partner in a current payment period is the amount that equals one-twelfth of the total incomes of the pensioner and the spouse or common-law partner for the base calendar year; however, for the purpose of calculating the allowance that may be paid to the pensioner’s spouse or common-law partner under subsection (3) for the months during which the pensioner is an incarcerated person described in subsection 5(3) — exclusive of the first month of incarceration and the month of release — it is the amount that equals one-twelfth of the income of the spouse or common-law partner for the base calendar year;

(2) Section 22 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):

(2.1) No supplement under subsection (2) may be paid to an incarcerated person described in subsection 5(3) for any month for which no pension may be paid.

10. Section 23 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):

(3) Despite subsections (1) and (1.1), if the application for an allowance by a person described in paragraph 19(6)(f) or 21(9)(d) is approved while that person is incarcerated, payment of their allowance shall commence in respect of the month in which they are released but only if they

(a) have notified the Minister in writing before or after their release; and

(b) continue to be eligible for an allowance.

11. Section 33.11 of the Act is amended by striking out “and” at the end of paragraph (b) and by adding the following after that paragraph:

(b.1) the Commissioner of Corrections or staff members of the Correctional Service of Canada may make available to the Minister or a public officer of the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development any personal information that was obtained in the administration of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, if the information is necessary for the administration of this Act; and