# 2020-044 Pay and Benefits, Home Equity Assistance

Case summary

F&R Date: 2020-05-28

The grievor was posted from Cold Lake, Alberta in March 2016. Despite listing his house for sale immediately, it remained unsold. On 19 April 2018, revisions to the Canadian Forces Integrated Relocation Program (CFIRP) came into effect, removing the option to apply for 100% Home Equity Assistance (HEA) reimbursement from the Core envelope for homes sold in a depressed market area. The grievor's home sold in November 2018 and he suffered an equity loss of almost $100,000. The grievor argued that he should be administered under the previous version of the CFIRP policy which was in effect when he began his 2016 relocation.

The Initial Authority (IA), the Director General Compensation and Benefits, found that, on 17 July 2018, the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) declared that houses sold in Cold Lake after 18 April 2018 would be subject to the revised version of the CFIRP HEA policy and would no longer be considered for a depressed market status. As a result, the IA denied the grievance, finding that the grievor's home sold after 18 April 2018 and could not be administered under the previous CFIRP version.

The Committee found that the grievor had no vested right to be administered under the previous CFIRP version because he did not sell his house prior to 19 April 2018. The Committee then noted that in an interview given by the Director of Compensation and Benefits Administration (DCBA) to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in May 2018, the DCBA stated that the intent of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) was to address catastrophic home equity losses using a “caveat” found in the CFIRP. DCBA staff advised the Committee that the “caveat” was CFIRP article 2.1.01. The Committee found that CFIRP article 2.1.01 applied to the grievor because his equity loss was directly related to his relocation and the extent of his equity loss was exceptional in nature. The Committee recommended that the Final Authority direct DCBA to forward the grievor's claim for full reimbursement of his equity loss to the TBS with the full support of the CAF.