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The Treasury Board, pursuant to subsection 25(1) of the Financial Administration Act, hereby revokes the Debt Write-off Regulations, made on March 14, 1985, and makes the annexed Regulations respecting the writing off of any debt or obligation due to Her Majesty or any claim by Her Majesty, in substitution therefor.notenote
Short Title
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These Regulations may be cited as the Debt Write-off Regulations, 1994.
Interpretation
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In these Regulations,
Act means the Financial Administration Act; (Loi)
in writing includes any electronic form that is capable of being reproduced in intelligent, written form within a reasonable time. (par écrit)
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Application
Authority to Write Off Debts
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(1)Subject to subsection 25(2) of the Act and sections 5 and 6 of these Regulations, the appropriate Minister of a department, or an officer authorized by that Minister in writing, may write off from the accounts of the department a debt, or a part of a debt, that has been determined to be uncollectible.
(2)Subject to subsection 25(2) of the Act and section 5 of these Regulations, the appropriate Minister of a department, or an officer authorized by that Minister in writing, may write off from the accounts of the department a debt for which further administrative expense or other costs of collecting the debt are not justifiable in relation to the amount of the debt or the probability of collection.
(3)Subject to subsection 25(2) of the Act, the appropriate Minister of a department, or an officer authorized by that Minister in writing, may write off from the accounts of the department
(b)the balance of a debt that remains after a compromise settlement has been effected pursuant to an applicable authority.
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(1)No accountable advances or other debts arising from the overpayment by Her Majesty of salaries, wages or employment-related allowances, or any part of any of them, shall be written off without the approval of the Treasury Board.
(2)Subsection (1) does not apply to debts owing by former employees that are discovered after their employment has terminated and all termination benefits have been paid.
Criteria
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No debt, or any part of a debt, shall be written off from the accounts of a department under subsection 4(1) unless
(a)all reasonable collection action has been taken and all possible means of collection have been exhausted;
(b)there is no possibility now or in the foreseeable future of collection through set-off; and
(c)the appropriate Minister, or the officer referred to in section 4, is satisfied on reasonable grounds that
(i)the debtor is not resident in Canada, there are no apparent means of collecting the debt and there is no evidence that the debtor has a family or business concerns in Canada that could lead the debtor to return to Canada,
(ii)the debtor cannot be located,
(v)the debtor is a corporation and the corporation is inoperative and without assets,
(vi)the debtor is an undischarged bankrupt corporation and
(A)the corporation is without assets and the trustee has been discharged, or
(B)the trustee has confirmed in writing that the trustee does not foresee any further payments to Her Majesty,
(vii)the debtor is an undischarged bankrupt individual and
(A)the trustee has been discharged, or
(B)the trustee has confirmed in writing that the trustee does not foresee any further payments to Her Majesty,
(viii)the debtor is deceased and there is no known estate, or
(ix)the debtor
(A)is incapable of repaying the debt, in whole or in part, as evidenced, among other things, by the debtor’s family income level being below the net monthly income level requiring payments from income toward debts, as stated in the guidelines on payments required from income issued periodically by the Superintendent of Bankruptcy,
(B)is not reasonably expected to have the capacity to repay the debt in the foreseeable future, and
(C)does not own or have an interest in mortgageable real or personal property, has not entered into a contract to purchase property under the Veterans’ Land Act and does not own financial assets that could be applied toward discharging the debt, in whole or in part.
Procedures for the Control and Writing Off of a Debt
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All debts shall be controlled within the appropriate department’s accounts until they are either collected or written off.
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(1)The appropriate Minister of each department or the deputy head on behalf of the Minister shall establish a formal review process for the writing off of debts, in whole or in part, under subsections 4(1) and (2).
(2)Where an amount exceeding $25,000, or such lower amount as may be fixed by the appropriate Minister or the deputy head, is proposed to be written off, the matter shall be referred to a review committee established pursuant to subsection (1), which committee shall make recommendations on the proposed write-off to the appropriate Minister or the officer referred to in section 4.
(3)A review committee shall consist of at least three public officers, at least one of whom shall not have been involved in the creation or establishment of the debt that is proposed to be written off or in any action taken to collect it.
Retention of Information and Records
Federal laws of Canada reproduced under the Reproduction of Federal Law Order (SI/97-5); not the official version. Source: Justice Laws Website.