Eligible seniors still waiting for affordability payments from province

Affordability payments went out at the end of January, but some Albertans who applied to the province’s program have yet to receive a payment.

Like many people who applied for the support, Michael Dean and his wife are facing some financial challenges.

“We’ve had to cut out a number of things. We just don’t do stuff anymore because of the cost,” Dean said.

The couple applied to the province’s affordability payments on Jan. 18 in hopes the extra $100 a month would give them some breathing room.

“It showed everything’s approved — and then nothing.”

The first of the six payments was supposed to come out on Jan. 31, as long as an application was submitted before Jan. 27.

According to the province, the portal will indicate if an application is approved and being processed for payment.

“If they have not received their payment, typically it’s because incorrect banking information was entered. This has only occurred in less than a fraction of a percent of applications. Alberta’s Public Service technical team is currently working on a fix for this so Albertans can go in to review and edit information if necessary,” the province said in a statement to Global News.

But Dean said no money from the province has landed in his bank account. So, he called the help desk but they said they couldn’t help.

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“They can’t make any adjustments, only the applicant can make a change — except that functionality isn’t available,” he said.

Dean added that he has heard from family members that they’ve experienced similar issues with the payments. As for him and his wife, all they can do is wait and hope the money comes soon.

“It’s just stuck. We have no idea what’s going on now.”

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