Other Canada Pension Plan (CPP)

Decision

[1] I am dismissing the appeal. The General Division did not make an error when it summarily dismissed the Claimant’s appeal. These reasons explain why.

Overview

[2] A. R. (Claimant) applied for a retirement pension under the Canada Pension Plan on June 3, 2021. He was 62 years of age. The Minister approved the pension and the payments started in July 2021, the month after the Claimant applied.

[3] The Claimant appealed to this Tribunal. He argued that he wanted his pension to start earlier (retroactive to when he turned 60). The General Division summarily dismissed the Claimant’s appeal. The General Division applied the law to the Claimant’s situation and found that he had already received the earliest possible start date for his retirement pension.

[4] When the General Division summarily dismisses an appeal, it means that the Claimant did not have a hearing because the appeal had no reasonable chance of success. The General Division explained that according to the Canada Pension Plan, the Claimant’s retirement pension could not have started any earlier.

[5] I must decide whether the General Division made an error under the Department of Employment and Social Development Act (Act) by summarily dismissing the Claimant’s appeal.^{Footnote 1}

[6] The General Division did not make an error. The Claimant’s appeal had no reasonable chance of success. I am dismissing the appeal.

Issue

[7] Did the General Division make an error by summarily dismissing the Claimant’s appeal about when his retirement pension payments should have started?

Analysis

[8] In this decision, I will explain how:

• the General Division decides whether to summarily dismiss an appeal
• the Appeal Division reviews General Division decisions
• early a CPP retirement pension can start
• I have decided that the General Division did not make an error when it summarily dismissed the Claimant’s appeal.

How the General Division decides to summarily dismiss an appeal

[9] The General Division must summarily dismiss an appeal if it is satisfied that the appeal has no reasonable chance of success.^{Footnote 2} The issue is whether it is plain and obvious on the record that the appeal is bound to fail.^{Footnote 3}

[10] The question is not whether the Tribunal must dismiss the appeal after considering the facts, the case law, and the parties’ arguments. Instead, the question is whether the appeal is destined to fail regardless of the evidence or arguments that the claimant might provide at a hearing.

How the Appeal Division reviews General Division decisions

[11] The Appeal Division doesn’t give the Claimant and the Minister a chance to re-argue the case from the beginning. Instead, the Appeal Division reviews the General Division’s decision to decide if it contains errors. That review is based on the wording of the Act. The Act describes four types of errors that the Appeal Division can address:

• errors of fact
• errors of law
• errors made because the General Division did not provide a fair process
• errors made about what the General Division has the power to decide.^{Footnote 4}

How early a retirement pension can start

[12] The General Division did not make any error about when the retirement pension payments start.

[13] Canada Pension Plan says that the earliest possible date for starting retirement pension payments is the latest of the four dates in this chart:

[14] The chart above provides two possible dates that the Claimant’s retirement pension could start: either August 2018 or July 2021. The Canada Pension Plan says that the earliest the pension can start is the latest of those two dates. Although the Claimant argues that the retirement pension payments should start on August 2018, the General Division determined that the earliest the retirement pension can start for the Claimant is July 2021.^{Footnote 7}

How I’ve decided there is no possible error

[15] The General Division considered the Canada Pension Plan and came to the only conclusion available to it based on the Claimant’s age.^{Footnote 8} The General Division did not have any power to apply the Canada Pension Plan differently and to start the pension when the Claimant is asking. The General Division did not make an error by finding that the Claimant’s retirement pension payments start July 2021 and that there was no argument for an earlier date that would have a reasonable chance of success.

[16] The Claimant argues at the Appeal Division that the General Division ought to have considered that he wasn’t aware about the option of starting his pension at the age of 60. He says that if he had received a notice from Service Canada about that option, he would have applied for the retirement pension in time for the month he turned 60.

[17] In my view, the Claimant has not raised any argument for an error by the General Division. The Canada Pension Plan sets out exactly when the retirement pension starts, and it doesn’t allow for any change to that approach based on when and how the Claimant learned of his options.

[18] The Claimant’s retirement pension payments started as early as possible in accordance with the Canada Pension Plan. As a result, General Division was satisfied that the Claimant’s appeal had no reasonable chance of success. The General Division applied the proper legal test to summarily dismiss the appeal.^{Footnote 9} In that situation, the General Division must summarily dismiss the Claimant’s appeal. The General Division did not make any error.

[19] I have reviewed the record. I am satisfied that the General Division did not ignore or misunderstand any evidence about the Claimant’s age or when he applied to for the retirement pension.^{Footnote 10} The General Division did not make any error under the Act that I need to fix.

[20] A final note. The Minister did provide some more information (not advice) to the Claimant about the possible longer-term financial advantage in starting his retirement pension in July 2021 rather than in August 2018. Starting the retirement pension sooner has short-term benefits financially. However, it does involve reductions in the monthly amount claimants receive. I draw the Claimant’s attention to that information again in case it is helpful to him.^{Footnote 11}

Conclusion

[21] I am dismissing the appeal. The General Division did not make an error when it summarily dismissed the Claimant’s appeal.