After losing his job, a 27-year-old young man who lives with intellectual limitations is still suffering financially from the pandemic.
Nick Beaupré is 27 years old and he has a lot of ambition. Despite his intellectual limitations, he has an apartment, his driver’s license and even had a job in a restaurant, subsidized by Emploi-Québec. “My main task was to wash the dishes, but also to help cook, I prepared the pizza, the poutines,” said Mr. Beaupré.
The man benefited from the Income Security program, with a supplement of $300. His job was above all to promote himself and flourish. “Being with the world, working, feeling like a normal person. Not being at home doing nothing is not what I aim for, ”he explained.
But in October 2020, he lost his job due to the pandemic.
He then found himself having to apply for employment insurance.
An unpleasant surprise awaited him at the end of his benefits: his $300 income security supplement was withdrawn.
According to the explanations of the workers to his mother, the benefits paid to him were regular benefits and not in connection with a loss of employment due to the pandemic.
Result: He lost all his seniority in the program. “We have to start from scratch, we have to redo a period of 66 months of full benefit to be able to recover the supplement to which he was entitled,” explained his mother, Claudie Beaupré.
Mr. Beaupré is now struggling to pay for his apartment. He is afraid to put another dream behind him. “I go to bed late, get up late, don’t sleep much and barely eat,” the 27-year-old reported.
All the steps to rectify the situation have so far yielded nothing.
“I find it flat that we come to this following so many fights. It is not an easy task to enter the job market. Really, we want the situation to resolve and that we do not penalize him for having entered the job market, ”lamented his mother.
“I believe he is being unfairly penalized financially for having the courage to want as normal a life as possible. I tried to take steps to restore the situation with certain authorities, but unfortunately, I was unable to make my voice heard. I ran into a machine, ”lamented the one who is also the administrator of the file.
Mr. Beaupré will also not have access to the reform of the Income Security program, scheduled for January 2023, which would have allowed him to have more generous benefits. “Because of the eligibility requirements and of having obtained 66 months of benefits in the last 72 months,” said her mother.
Faced with uncertainty, the duo prefers to wait before looking for a new job. But already, Mr. Beaupré has ideas. He would like to be a delivery man. “I like to drive myself. I’m in my bubble and I’m alone in the world and I don’t think of anything but driving,” he confessed.
“It’s a life goal. He was 13-14 years old and he said, I want to have an apartment, my job. One of the dreams he has is to be part of society and participate,” his mother said.
