Many survivors of human trafficking face not only a long road to recover from mental wounds, but financial ones as well. A Toronto woman is now calling on federal changes as she battles with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) over benefits claimed in her name by her traffickers. At the age of 14, Cassandra Harvey was groomed by a man she trusted, who led her into a dark world. She was able to escape after four years of hell. For survivors like her, the mental toll is immense, but there’s another issue rarely talked about: the financial burden left by the perpetrators. In Harvey’s case, they used her identity to open up several different accounts. “They started opening up payday loans, credit cards, phone bills, things like that,” she shared. By the time she escaped, her traffickers had racked up more than $65,000 in debt in her name. Her consumer credit report was trashed. While she was able to clear that debt, successfully proving those accounts were opened without her full consent with the help of volunteers, there’s another issue she’s now struggling to sort out. “During COVID, my trafficker started claiming the CERB benefits and also claimed a large portion of my child tax benefit,” Harvey said. The CRA is still calling for her to pay some of that back. “Because of that, for years now, they’ve clawed back on my tax returns. They’ve clawed back on all my child tax benefits, my GST, HST,” Harvey explained. It was a big hit to Harvey who is now studying in university and is a single mom.“I have student loans and I’m on a very fixed income. For them to take this money is a big financial burden.” She’s now in the midst of what she calls a very frustrating years-long battle with the CRA. She said her calls asking for understanding from the agency have been unsuccessful. “I reached out to the CRA and I said, ‘Hey, I would love to actually meet with you and explain how I was trafficked, how the financial coercion occurred and give you more context.’ But they don’t seem to want to listen.” Harvey is not alone, according to Richard Dunwoody, a retired banker who founded Project Recover and worked for years with hundreds of survivors to clear debt racked up by traffickers in the survivors’ names. “This is just one real life example of what’s happening,” he said. Creditors he worked with were often eager to help clear that debt. Dunwoody said the CRA should follow suit. “To pursue somebody that was trafficked during the time of CERB when the control of the bank account was obviously under somebody else is just wrong,” said Dunwoody. Speakers Corner reached out to the CRA for a response. A spokesperson tells CityNews they’re committed to resolving situations like Harvey’s responsibly and ethically. “The CRA takes cases involving vulnerable individuals, especially those impacted by coercion or exploitation, with the utmost seriousness. The CRA is committed to reaching a resolution while carefully assessing each victim’s circumstances.” Whether Harvey, who is now calling on the CRA to return the money they’ve received by taking her returns, will see resolution, remains unclear. A CRA spokesperson said they could not comment on her case telling CityNews the confidentiality provisions of the Income Tax Act prevents the CRA from doing so. Harvey will continue her fight, adding she’s already hired a lawyer. “I can stick this out, and I can advocate, but there are people who are not in positions to advocate in the way that I do,” she said. “Something has to change.” Harvey is now working to gather voices of other survivors like her facing similar struggles. Her hope is if enough speak out, they can advocate for changes at the CRA by creating an advisory board to help CRA staff better understand the financial hurdles survivors face. “The CRA is full of CPAs. They have financial experience, but they have no human trafficking experience and no education on that issue so this advisory committee would essentially be reviewing these applications and working hand in hand with the government to get survivors relief.” If you’re a survivor interested in contacting Cassandra, you can connect with her by email at connect@cassandraharvey.org.If you have a story, question or issue you’d like to sound off about, contact us.