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Decision
[1] The Claimant is entitled to a Canada Pension Plan (CPP) disability pension to be paid as of June 2018.
Overview
[2] The Claimant immigrated from Italy to Canada in 1974. The Claimant has grade 4 education in Italy and she has only worked in a factory doing manual labour. The Claimant stopped working in February 2018 due to her medical condition. The Minister received the Claimant’s application for the disability pension on December 4, 2018. The Minister denied the application initially and on reconsideration. The Claimant appealed the reconsideration decision to the Social Security Tribunal.
[3] To qualify for a CPP disability pension, the Claimant must meet the requirements that are set out in the CPP. More specifically, the Claimant must be found disabled as defined in the CPP on or before the end of the minimum qualifying period (MQP). The calculation of the MQP is based on the Claimant’s contributions to the CPP. I find the Claimant’s MQP to be December 31, 2021. As the MQP is a future date, the Claimant must be found disabled as of the date of the hearing to qualify for the CPP disability pension.
Issue(s)
[4] Did the Claimant’s condition of left should pain result in the Claimant having a severe disability, meaning incapable regularly of pursuing any substantially gainful occupation by the date of the hearing?
[5] If so, was the Claimant’s disability also long continued and of indefinite duration by the date of the hearing?
Analysis
[6] Disability is defined as a physical or mental disability that is severe and prolongedFootnote 1. A person is considered to have a severe disability if incapable regularly of pursuing any substantially gainful occupation. A disability is prolonged if it is likely to be long continued and of indefinite duration or is likely to result in death. A person must prove on a balance of probabilities their disability meets both parts of the test, which means if the Claimant meets only one part, the Claimant does not qualify for disability benefits.
Severe disability
The Claimant has a severe disability
[7] The Claimant worked as an assembler at a factory from December 1976 to February 2018 when she stopped working due to shoulder pain and restricted movement. The Claimant was initially diagnosed with a left shoulder rotator cuff tear and she has received injections with minimal effect. By February 2019 the Claimant’s diagnosis was chronic pain and myofascial.Footnote 2 Dr. Wang further noted that her symptoms had slightly improved since she stopped working and she was referred to a pain clinic.Footnote 3 Dr. Ganty noted that physiotherapy had made the pain worse and any other treatments were not effective. Dr. Ganty diagnosed the Claimant with neuropathic pain.Footnote 4
[8] The Claimant testified that she has not worked since she stopped working. She spoke with her supervisor at the factory where she worked about any modified work available. The Claimant wanted to see if she could do another job at the factory but the employer requires all employees to have use of both hands regardless of the type of work. The Claimant cannot use her left hand because of the pain in her left shoulder. However, the Claimant testified that with the burning pain she experiences she would not have been able to work.
[9] The Claimant testified that no treatment or medication has helped her pain or her shoulder limitations. The Claimant testified that she first experienced her shoulder pain approximately 1 month prior to stopping work. She described the pain as being in her shoulders, neck and back preventing her from raising her left arm because it goes into spasm. I find that the Claimant has a severe disability.
The Claimant does not have capacity to work
[10] The Claimant stopped attending school in Italy after she completed grade 4 and she has not received any education in Canada. The Claimant testified that she learned to speak English when she moved to Canada by watching children’s television shows. She is not able to write English but she can read a little bit of English. The Claimant has no computer skills of any kind and has only worked in a factory as an assembler on a line assembling televisions and radios for cars.
[11] I must assess the severe part of the test in a real world contextFootnote 5. This means that when deciding whether a person’s disability is severe, I must keep in mind factors such as age, level of education, language proficiency, and past work and life experience. The Claimant is now 63 years’ old with limited English, work skills and experience and no computer skills. I am satisfied that the Claimant is not a suitable candidate for retraining due to her age, physical limitations and pain as well as her limited English and computer skills.
[12] The measure of whether a disability is “severe” is not whether the person suffers from severe impairments, but whether the disability prevents the person from earning a living. It’s not a question of whether a person is unable to perform their regular job, but rather the person’s inability to perform any substantially gainful workFootnote 6. I am satisfied that the Claimant is unable to return to the work she did in a factory. However, I am also convinced, based on the Claimant’s testimony and the medical documents filed with the Tribunal, that the Claimant does not have capacity to work.
[13] I must assess the Claimant’s condition in its totality, which means I must consider all of the possible impairments, not just the biggest impairments or the main impairmentFootnote 7. Dr. Wang indicated that the Claimant’s condition, almost 1 year after she stopped working, had only slightly improved with the work stoppage. I am satisfied that the Claimant’s shoulder injury and symptoms of constant pain with movement restrictions prevent the Claimant from working.
[14] I am satisfied that the Claimant does not have capacity to work since she stopped working in February 2018. Therefore, I find that the Claimant had a severe disability as of February 2018 and continuously thereafter.
Prolonged disability
[15] The Claimant has now been diagnosed with chronic pain and her symptoms have not improved. There is no suggestion in the medical documents that there is a cure for the Claimant’s shoulder. Further, although the Claimant has tried a variety of different treatments including injections and physiotherapy, none has successfully treated her condition. I accept the Claimant’s testimony that she has not been able to do any work since she stopped working in February 2018 and continuously thereafter.
[16] The Claimant’s shoulder condition is long continued since early 2018 and is of indefinite duration. I find that the Claimant’s condition is prolonged as of February 2018 and continuously thereafter.
Conclusion
[17] The Claimant had a severe and prolonged disability in February 2018 when the Claimant stopped working. Payments start four months after the date of disability, as of June 2018Footnote 8.
[18] The appeal is allowed.