Some B.C. residents who receive monthly income assistance cheques by mail may not get them in time for Christmas.

Black Press Media has learned that some residents at an Abbotsford men鈥檚 treatment centre, which houses people working through their addictions, had not received their cheques by mail as of Thursday evening.

Typically they would be sent out by the second last Wednesday of the month. However, inclement weather suspended service by Canada Post in many regions, including the Fraser Valley.

The provincial government is urging most of the province to stay home on Friday, due to a particularly strong winter storm. That means those who haven鈥檛 received their cheques by Thursday could be out of luck on Friday as well.

A staff member at the centre said that the problem is affecting virtually all of their clients.

鈥淎 lot of people who are experiencing homelessness, and are addicted, don鈥檛 have bank accounts,鈥� the worker said.

Their staff have been working with someone from the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction, but no clear answers had been given to them by Thursday night.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how far spread this will be,鈥� the worker added.

Black Press Media has heard from a handful of Fraser Valley residents, and people in other weather-affected areas of the province, who have confirmed they have not received their January cheque yet, and have been told not to expect it until next week.

One woman said while her disability cheque came through her direct deposit as usual, a 鈥渕id-month cheque鈥� that comes through the mail has not yet arrived.

鈥淚t usually gets delivered on disability day,鈥� she told The News. 鈥� I feel for everyone who hasn鈥檛 received theirs yet, it鈥檚 hard enough living on (income assistance) or disability, then throw in only getting paid once a month and delays on top of that. It鈥檚 heartbreaking.鈥�

Black Press Media has requested comment from the ministry and Canada Post and will update this story as new information is received.

UPDATE, 2:08 p.m. Friday:

Canada Post media relations replied to The News, saying 鈥渢he storm has caused delays on multiple fronts and Canada Post has been affected as well.鈥�

鈥淥n Tuesday, we issued a red delivery service alert for the Fraser Valley,鈥� the media officer said. 鈥淭hat meant there was no mail delivery on Tuesday. The alert was upgraded to yellow on Wednesday, so that means we made every effort to deliver the mail but there would be delays and possibly no delivery.鈥�

Canada Post issued a country-wide media advisory Friday, announcing they are currently in a red or yellow service alert in all regions, including the Fraser Valley.

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jessica.peters@abbynews.com
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