Claim damages caused by Phoenix : Financial costs and lost investment income

Employees who have cashed in investments, missed opportunities to earn interest on savings accounts, or experienced delays in receiving your severance, pension or pay and were not able to earn interest on those sums can file a claim under the Phoenix damages agreement.

A threshold of $1,500 will apply to these claims. This means that employees must have experienced a loss on missed opportunities or loss of interest greater than $1,500 to submit a claim. You can combine several items in one claim to ensure the one-time threshold is met. Once you have met the threshold, it will not apply to any subsequent claims submitted for compensation for damages for severe impacts caused by the Phoenix pay system.

You can request compensation for financial costs and lost investment income if you meet the three criteria:

  1. You experienced any of the following situations:
    • You cashed in, in part or in whole, a publicly available financial investment instrument (that you owned prior to experiencing Phoenix pay problems) because your pay was late. These could be investment instruments such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, interest-bearing accounts and guaranteed investment certificates (GIC)
    • You had to withdraw money early from a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) because you were not paid by the Phoenix pay system
    • Your pay, severance or pension was delayed because of problems with the Phoenix pay system
    • You had to pay interest on a loan, mortgage, credit card or other debt because your severance or pension payment was paid late
  2. You estimate that your claim for losses is greater than the one-time threshold of $1,500
  3. You are eligible to compensation for severe damages under the Phoenix damages agreement

To submit a claim for financial costs and lost investment income, you must:

  1. Prepare the claim using TBS's claim form 340-58, and ensure to complete, sign and date all mandatory fields of the form;
  2. Attach all supporting documentation depending on the financial costs and/or loss of investment claimed:
    1. If you cashed in publicly available financial investment instrument (that you owned prior to experiencing Phoenix pay problems) because you were not paid by the Phoenix pay system:
      • Copies of the supporting account statement or trade summary of the disposition of the financial instrument
      • Documentation supporting the lost investment income, such as:
        • The price of the financial investment instrument (for example, stock) on the day that you received your missing pay
        • The interest rate of the interest-earning financial instrument that was disposed of
        • The dividends that would have been earned on the dividend-earning financial instrument that was disposed of.
    2. If you withdrew money early from a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) because you were not paid by the Phoenix pay system:
      • Copies of supporting account statement or trade summary
      • A copy of your latest income tax Notice of Assessment or Reassessment for the year in which you withdrew early from your RRSP.
    3. If you had a delayed payment of your pay, severance or pension because of problems with the Phoenix pay system:
      • If you have now received the payment, a copy of the pay stub that indicates the date and amount of payment.
      • If you have not yet received any payment, provide the dates that the missing payments were due to you.
      • If you are retired, also provide a document that confirms your retirement date.
    4. If you had to pay interest on a loan, mortgage, credit card or other debt because your severance or pension were not paid by the Phoenix pay system:
      • A copy of your bank statement, loan agreement, line of credit, credit card statement, invoice from financial service provider, etc.
  3. Sign the claim form certifying and consenting to the disclosure of your personal information to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s Claims Office, Public Services and Procurement Canada, Canada Revenue Agency, Employment and Social Development Canada and your Bargaining agent, (Section 5(a) of the claim form);
  4. Submit the claim with all supporting documentations via email to Departmental Claims Officers (DCO).

Once a claim is authorized, the DCO will communicate with the employee to obtain a signed release form prior to the payment of the claim. Please note that all emails will be handled in confidentiality. For privacy and security reasons, all claim requests should be submitted through your departmental email account (Outlook). Internet email exchange is not a secure mechanism as the confidentiality and integrity of the email cannot be guaranteed. The email can be intercepted and the contents revealed.

For further guidance on how to complete and submit your claim, refer to the frequently asked questions on the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat website.

For additional assistance, contact Departmental Claims Officers:

  • Christella Nzohabonayo
    Telephone: 343-572-6714
  • Marie-Ève Charlebois-Lemieux
    Telephone: 873-455-1371
  • Mélanie Charbonneau
    Telephone: 343-552-9035