Student shorted $5K by Parks Canada postpones studies and moves home

A well-paying summer job at Waterton Lakes National Park in southern Alberta sounded like a dream to Sydney Kallio.

But the 22-year-old student had to move back into her parents' Lethbridge home and put her education on hold because she never received full payment from Parks Canada.

Kallio is one of thousands of Canadians affected by problems with the federal Phoenix payroll system.

• Tax headaches expected from payroll fiasco

She estimates she's owed $5,000 to $6,000 and has no idea when she will receive that money.

"Within the first couple of weeks, I didn't get paid, and then that continued for a month and a half. After that I was given some pay, but it was not the contract pay that I was promised," she told the Calgary Eyeopener.

"I was fortunate enough to have parents that were able to support me a little bit, throughout that time, but it was definitely hard to be able to pay bills just after coming out of a school semester."

Handful of claims outstanding

A spokesperson for the federal government said that since last April, 1,656 payroll cases involving summer students have been resolved and only three remain.

Kallio's is one of them.

She says trying to get answers about her paycheques during the summer was hard. She recalls dialing the phone number she was given up to 30 times a day and not having anyone pick up.

"Since then, I have called probably about three times a month and still they have no answers for me. They don't have my personal files … they just pass my information along."

Postponed studies, moved home

Without savings from her summer job, Kallio had to postpone her post-secondary education and move back in with her parents in Lethbridge last fall.

This month she started studies at SAIT in Calgary, taking out a student loan in order to cover her fees.

"It's extremely frustrating, especially as a student, when I have loans and I have tuition to pay and all kinds of other expenses," said Kallio.

"When you are a student and you are 22 years old, it's embarrassing to have to ask people for money when you want to be an adult and you want to be supporting yourself."

While she alleges Parks Canada staff told her not to speak to the media because she might not be hired back next summer, Kallio says she is no longer interested in working in Waterton Lakes.

"I don't plan on going back."

Since the Phoenix payroll system was rolled out last February, more than 80,000 public servants have been underpaid, overpaid or not paid at all. 

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With files from the Calgary Eyeopener

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