Hi

My wife accepted a position as a live in housemother.

She works for a not-for profit supporting adults with Autism.

Three adults live in the apartments and receive daily support from assistants in areas of daily living. In the evening my wife supports them cooking, bathing, taking them out for
entertainment, them etc and gets them to bed.

She is paid to work Monday to Friday 7am til 9am and then 4pm til 10pm.

At this time she is in her apartment but is on call and therefore cannot leave the building during the overnight period and has to respond to any needs of those living here. There is an intercom system that she can listen on and can be contacted accordingly.

She is allowed two weekends off per month starting on Friday morning 9am and returning Sunday afternoon at 4pm. She is also allowed three weeks vacation two of which have to be at a time dictated by the organisation.

She is therefore severely restricted in the time she can be away from the premises and is not paid for the overnight aspect. She is paid 100 hours bi-weekly.

After working for the first week she was advised that the apartment she lives in in the building is a taxable benefit.

The Executive Director compared properties and assessed that $65 a month was reasonable and this is the amount shown on the payslip and on which tax is calculated.

The apartment is one bedroom, lounge, kitchen diner and bathroom. It has two entrances one directly into the apartment area of the three individuals living here the other is via a shared entrance for the offices of the agency. This common entrance way door is locked in the evening so there is no separate private access to the apartment from outside.

My wife pays for all the utilities on the apartment and at face value if dismissed or she otherwise leaves employment has no right of tenancy as she would be expected to give up the apartment.

The entrance to my wife's apartment is not directly and independently from outside but shares the initial entrance way to the offices of the agency and to the other areas of the building in which day services are offered.

Apologies for the lengthy explanation of the facts but the question is whether this is actually a taxable benefit as assessed. The comparison has been made to a Residential Manager of an apartment building but the nature of the role is markedly different as it is a caregiver under contract to live in the building.

If it is taxable is there any relief that can be obtained when completing the Canadian Tax Return.

Just to complicate matters we lived in Vancouver for a number of years and I moved my wife and younger sons back to the East Coast (Nova Scotia) in 2010 forgetting to claim the removal allowance). She subsequently moved to Charlottetown for the position described above. I have moved from Vancouver to Charlottetown in December 2011. In view of this are we both able to claim separate flat rate removal costs?

Thanks for any assistance.

Martin

Already Tried:
I have looked online at CRA guidance but this seems more specific than they show. Also discussed briefly with a friend who is a corporate accountant with no background in personal taxes.