Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP): One-Year Window of Opportunity and RAP income support

On this page

• Guidelines for RAP income support eligibility assessment
• Duration of RAP eligibility and proration of OYW payments
• Secondary Review of Calculation
• Issuing RAP income support
• The 50% additional income threshold and personal asset maximums for OYW cases
• One Year Window (OYW) move allowance

Guidelines for RAP income support eligibility assessment

RAP income support issued to One Year Window (OYW) arrivals is also subject to an eligibility assessment based on the total family income and assets undertaken by the local IRCC officer upon the family member(s)’ arrival in Canada.

The income situation of the family must be considered when determining RAP income support eligibility. For example, the head of family (HOF) may be

1. receiving RAP income support
2. receiving provincial or territorial social assistance and no longer receiving RAP income support or
3. employed and no longer receiving RAP income support

The intent in all three scenarios is to calculate eligible benefits for the non-accompanying family member(s) (NAF) as if they had arrived as a family with the HOF, using current rates, ages, and financial situation of the whole family into consideration.

Age of majority

Dependent children who have reached the age of majority at the time of arrival in Canada are treated as individual RAP clients rather than as part of a family unit and their benefits may be calculated accordingly, using single rates.

The age of majority is defined by statute in each province and territory and is either 18 or 19 years of age.

Duration of RAP eligibility and proration of OYW payments

Non-accompanying family members (NAF) remain eligible to receive RAP income support for up to a maximum of 12 months from their date of arrival in Canada.

When it comes to issuing the first and last months’ monthly allowances, Officers will have the option to either pro-rate these months, similar to all new arrivals, or to use the full monthly amount as generated in the OYW calculator, and apply 12 equal payments. If the officer chooses not to pro-rate, they must keep in mind that only 12 monthly payments can be made (as opposed to 13 when prorating the first and last months), therefore first and last actual payments may not align with the commitment start and end dates in GCMS. RAP officers may create these payments to commence on the 1^st of the month, as follows: starting on the 1^st of the arrival month if they arrive on or before the 15th and the 1^st of the following month of arrival if they arrive on the 16^th or later, and continuing for twelve subsequent full months, without a pro-rated end month. GCMS commitment start and end dates, as well as dates on the RAP Agreement, should still reflect the date of arrival in Canada.

Proration is required for overage child dependents’ files and in all instances where the OYW arrival does not directly move in with their family upon arrival for whatever reason (i.e. they stay in temporary accommodations). In those instances, the first payment will need to be adjusted based on the date of move-out, and the end date for final payment is prorated to one day before the anniversary of their arrival in Canada, as with all other GAR arrivals.

For consistency, once the monthly amount is determined using the OYW calculator tool, the pro-rated amount is calculated using the national standard formula for pro-rating a daily amount (amount x 12 / 365 days) to arrive at the prorated daily amount.

In addition to income support, non-accompanying family members are entitled to all RAP and settlement SPO services. While the assumption is that they will reside with the HOF upon arrival in Canada, they may still be eligible to stay in temporary accommodations if they are over the age of majority or accompanied by an adult and require the use of the temporary accommodation facilities while suitable accommodation for the whole family is being found.

When a NAF of a previously sponsored JAS client is being processed, the local office will review the overall needs of the family once they have arrived in order to determine what level of supports are required, for instance whether a JAS continues to be in the best interest of the family. The resettlement program delivery instructions on the OYW program can provide more information about dependents of JAS clients arriving under the OYW program.

Secondary review of calculation

Given the variables and situational dependency of OYW income support, an automation in GCMS is not a viable option at this time. Officers can use an Excel-based OYW calculation tool to assist with OYW calculations and ensure a secondary review of the calculation is conducted and documented prior to section 32 approvals. Once finalized, the calculation sheet should be uploaded to GCMS as supporting documentation on calculations for OYW applications created in GCMS.

Issuing RAP income support

The IRCC RAP Officer will meet with the HOF and the OYW family member(s) either

• at the SPO or the local IRCC office
• by proxy via the SPO, per the usual intake interview procedures

A separate RAP application should be created for the new incoming dependants in GCMS when they arrive, and the HOF added as a party ID to the “clients & parties” tab of the new file, so that payments can be directed to the HOF’s vendor for the payments on behalf of the dependants on the new file. If the HOF is no longer receiving RAP income support, their vendor can still be used by associating the file with a Party ID, or depending on circumstance, the RAP officer can create a separate vendor for adult-aged dependants such as a spouse or partner or dependant children who have reached the age of majority.

For files containing only minor dependants on a RAP application, the RAP Agreement populated in GCMS cannot be used since the parent or guardian names need to be present on the form. The RAP officer can modify the RAP Agreement or use the Hybrid RAP agreement to manually enter parental or guardian names on the form.

If the HOF is receiving provincial social assistance, the RAP officer can provide a letter to the HOF identifying the amount of assistance being received by non- accompanying family member(s) under RAP and must counsel the HOF to present this letter to their provincial social assistance counsellor.

Start-up and monthly entitlements, such as food and incidentals, shelter (including housing supplement), transportation, and communication allowance for the incoming dependants are calculated by using the following formula:

• Step 1: Determine how much the entire family (HOF and any dependant family members who accompanied the HOF initially plus the new NAF arrivals) would have received based on current rates, if they had all arrived today = (A)
• Step 2: Determine how much the original arrivals would have received based on current rates = (B)
• Step 3: Calculate the difference by subtracting A-B.

For any overlap period where the HOF is still receiving income support, RAP benefits paid to the HOF for their file and for that of the NAF portion should equal (A), the total family unit rate (i.e., the HOF and the non-accompanying family members).

When it comes to furniture items, if the provision is provided in cash, the above formula will apply. If items in the region are typically provided through a standing offer arrangement, additional orders should be considered on a case by case basis, in order to avoid duplicates or redundant items. Likewise, the family may have new needs (such as a larger kitchen set or additional seating requirements), which may need special assessment by IRCC. Linen allowance should also be provided to the NAFs if the clients were not issued linens by the SPO.

Special allowances (Maternity, Newborn and Special Diet allowances, etc.)

Each eligible non-accompanying family member is entitled as per the instructions in RAP allowances.

The 50% additional household income incentive threshold and Personal asset maximums for OYW cases

OYW cases will complete the Declaration of Funds and Assets form upon arrival to report any personal assets which themselves or other members of the family have in their possession, which may affect their level of income support, according to the Maximum Allotment for Personal Assets table. Previously reported and recorded personal assets of the original family members at their time of arrival will not need to be factored into the new calculation, however the personal assets of all family members should be included if there are any new assets to report at this time. If the family obtains any assets in the future, they are required to report their change in financial situation to IRCC through a Change of Status form.

In cases when the HOF, or any other family member, is employed or receiving additional income, the 50% additional household income incentive will also need to be applied. It is recommended to conduct these calculations outside the GCMS system by using the OYW tool for employment calculations, as the OYW tool will properly factor in the total family size when establishing the threshold.

The 50% additional household income incentive threshold will continue to apply based on the would-be monthly entitlement of the whole family unit, had they arrived together, based on current rates, and include the housing supplement. Any deductions to be made, after the 50% additional household income incentive threshold has been calculated, are to be taken from the non-accompanying family member(s)’ RAP income support amount.

Since OYW payments may be small, sometimes that month’s payment may be deducted up to zero, however threshold balances are not carried over to a following month.

For each month where there are earnings, the calculation can be refreshed and done in the same way using the OYW calculator tool. Keep in mind that previous months’ clawbacks are not factored into the threshold, therefore the full base amount is used each month to calculate the threshold.

Note: dependent children reaching age of majority are given their own file and their earnings are applied against their RAP allowances only.

The formula to be applied is the following:

• OYW entitlement amount (found in step 3 above) minus (any employment earnings found to be over the 50% threshold)

Example

If a GAR arrived previously (but has a spouse and child which are non-accompanying), is no longer on RAP and is currently employed (earning $1000 per month), and the non-accompanying family members are now arriving, their income support entitlements should be calculated as follows:

• Step 1: Calculate what the family as a whole would have received based on current rates.
  • in this example, the family as a whole may have received $1291
• Step 2: Calculate how much the original arrivals would have received based on current rates
  • in this example, the HOF had previously received $695 monthly, but there was a rate change since then, so the amount the HOF would have received based on current rates is $704 monthly – this is the amount to be used as step 2.
• Step 3: Calculate the non-accompanying family members’ monthly RAP payments by subtracting the amount in step 1 by the amount in step 2. The non-accompanying family members’ monthly RAP payments are therefore ($1291- $704) = $587 before any income deductions are applied
  • the “OYW entitlement” is therefore $587
• Step 4: Use the entire family unit amount ($1291) to calculate the 50% additional household income threshold deductions
  • in this scenario, the 50% additional income threshold is $645.50
• Step 5: Apply the 50% rule to the household income earned
  • any employment earnings over $645.50 will be deducted dollar for dollar from the “OYW Entitlement” amount
  • if employment earnings are not over the 50% threshold ($645.50), then there will be no deductions to the “OYW entitlement” amount

In this scenario, the household income is $1000. Therefore, the deductions are made dollar-for-dollar for every dollar earned exceeding $645.50. The total amount of deductions is $354.50.

The total amount paid to this family in this month is calculated by applying the income deductions ($354.50) to the OYW entitlement amount ($587). Therefore the total amount paid to this family for this month is $232.50.

Adult children (age of majority) as individual RAP clients

Monthly entitlements for adult children who have reached the age of majority should be calculated accordingly as single adults, using single rates once they reach the age of majority, commencing on the first of the next month after their birthday. The entitlement for shelter will be based on their confirmed share of the actual costs up to the maximum allowance if the adult child resides with the HOF, which can be discussed at intake interview or reported to IRCC through a change of status reports if it changes throughout the year.

The 50% additional income incentive threshold will apply to the dependent adult’s RAP income support should they receive additional funds (e.g., start working) while on RAP, and the threshold calculation will be based on maximum amounts, including maximum shelter and housing supplement. Once the adult dependant child has been given their own file, the HOF’s employment income, is not considered for the purposes of the 50% additional income incentive threshold against the dependant adult’s RAP income support, and vice versa, even if they are living in the same household.

One Year Window (OYW) move Allowance (G/L 59007)

When a HOF is required to move to larger accommodation due to the arrival of a non-accompanying family member(s), an allowance of up to a maximum of $500 per family unit may be provided on a case-by-case and one-time basis only, These costs are requested through the exceptional allowance request process. Costs may include the following:

• penalty costs related to breaking of lease for initial accommodation (note: HOFs should be counselled to begin seeking larger accommodation as soon as they become aware that applications have been submitted by their non-accompanying family member(s) abroad)
• moving costs