Canada Pension Plan (CPP) disability
Decision Information
Canada Pension Plan – disability – settlement – the General Division erred in law in how it decided the date of onset; onset ends contribution period; onset could not occur before the Claimant qualifies for the Canada Pension Plan disability pension
The Claimant is a former electrician and retail sales manager who suffered head injuries in a 2010 car accident. He hadn’t worked since 2018. The Minister refused his application because it decided he did not have a severe disability on or before the end of his coverage period or “minimum qualifying period” (MQP). He appealed that decision to the General Division (GD).
The GD granted the Claimant’s appeal because it found he was disabled. Generally, to qualify for a Canada Pension Plan (CPP) disability pension, a claimant needs to have paid enough CPP contributions – through their work – in the four of the last six years before they apply for the disability pension. In this case, the Claimant had enough contributions in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018. This meant the Claimant was eligible for CPP disability until December 31, 2020, as long as he proved he was disabled. Once the GD found they were disabled, it looked at the earliest date it could pay them benefits under the law, usually 15 months before the application date. The GD found him disabled as of November 2015. However, because November 2015 was more than 15 months before the application date, it found the Claimant’s disability started from April 2017, also called the “deemed date of disability”.
The Minister appealed the GD’s decision to the Appeal Division (AD). The Minister and the Claimant agreed the GD made a mistake in how they applied the law to this case. They also agreed and asked the AD to cancel the GD’s decision and find the Claimant was disabled.
The AD accepted the parties’ agreement. The AD found the GD couldn’t have found he was disabled as of April 2017. That is because once the tribunal finds the Claimant is disabled (“deemed date of disability”), the law also ends his contribution period. The contribution period starts when a person turns 18 years of age and ends when the Minister or the Tribunal “deems them disabled”. As written above, to qualify for a disability pension, a person needs four years of contributions in the six years before their application. Those four of six years need to be inside the contribution period.
The AD decided the law stated that ending the contribution period in 2017 meant the Tribunal couldn’t consider his potential years of coverage in 2017 and 2018. This meant the Claimant wouldn’t qualify for the disability pension for four of six years of contributions. Instead, the AD made the decision the GD should have made. It deemed the Claimant disabled in May 2018. This meant the AD could consider his years of contributions to the CPP in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018. The AD allowed the Minister’s appeal and granted the Claimant’s disability pension.
Decision Content
Citation: JK v Minister of Employment and Social Development, 2021 SST 460
Social Security Tribunal of Canada
Appeal Division
Decision
| Applicant: | Minister of Employment and Social Development |
| Representative: | Marcus Dirnberger |
| Respondent: | J. K. |
| Representative: | Chantelle Yang |
| Decision under appeal: | General Division decision dated May 21, 2021 (GP-20-974) |
| Tribunal member: | Neil Nawaz |
| Decision date: | September 2, 2021 |
| File number: | AD-21-269 |
On this page
Decision
[1] Leave to appeal is granted, and the appeal is allowed. I am giving the decision that the General Division should have given and finding the Respondent disabled as of May 2018.
Background
[2] The Respondent is a former electrician and retail sales manager who sustained head injuries in a 2010 car accident. He made two unsuccessful attempts to return to employment and hasn’t worked since June 2018. The following month, the Respondent applied for a Canada Pension Plan (CPP) disability pension.
[3] The Minister refused the application The Respondent appealed that refusal to the Social Security Tribunal’s General Division.
[4] The General Division held a hearing by teleconference and found that the Respondent had a severe and prolonged disability as of November 2015. Since a claimant cannot be found disabled more than 15 before the date of application, the General Division deemed the Respondent’s date of disability to be April 2017, with a first payment date of August 2017.
[5] The Minister has now requested leave, or permission to appeal, from the Tribunal’s Appeal Division. It alleges that the General Division erred in law by deeming the Claimant disabled before he had established CPP coverage.
[6] At the Minister’s suggestion, I convened a settlement conference to see if there was common ground on which the parties might reach an agreement.
[7] The parties did reach an agreement, and its terms were read into the record at the end of the settlement conference.Footnote 1 The parties have asked me to prepare decision that reflects that agreement.
Agreement
[8] The parties agreed that the Appeal Division should allow the appeal because the General Division erred in law by establishing a date of disability onset that was earlier than the end of the Respondent’s contributory period. They also agreed that the Appeal Division should give the decision that the General Division should have given and deem the Respondent disabled as of May 2018.
Analysis
[9] For the following reasons, I accept the parties’ agreement.
[10] Coverage for the CPP disability pension is established by working and contributing to the CPP. To qualify for the CPP disability pension, a claimant must establish a minimum qualifying period (MQP). Under the Canada Pension Plan, an MQP is established when a claimant shows valid contributions in at least four calendar years over any six-year period.Footnote 2 The MQP must also be within the contributory period, which begins when a claimant reaches eighteen years of age and ends the month in which a claimant is determined to have become disabled.Footnote 3
[11] In this case, the Respondent last had valid CPP contributions in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018. That means the Respondent had CPP disability coverage up to December 31, 2020. However, the Respondent could not have been deemed disabled as of April 2017, as the General Division would have it, because doing so would have put an end to his contributory period, thus leaving him short of his third and fourth years of required contributions.
[12] Contributions made after the date of disability onset cannot be considered. It was an error of law for the General Division to determine that disability started at a particular date and then use contributions made after that date to establish the MQP.
Remedy
[13] When the General Division makes an error, the Appeal Division can fix it by one of two ways: (i) it can send the matter back to the General Division for a new hearing or (ii) it can give the decision that the General Division should have given.Footnote 4
[14] The Tribunal is required to proceed as quickly as fairness permits. Since the only issue in this appeal is a matter of law, I am satisfied that I have all the information I need to determine the Respondent’s deemed date of disability onset myself.
[15] The earliest date that the Respondent can be deemed disabled is May 2018, the month in which he achieved his fourth year of valid contributions and thus established an MQP. The Respondent’s pension therefore starts as of September 2018—four months after the deemed date of disability.Footnote 5
Conclusion
[16] The appeal is allowed in accordance with the agreement. The Respondent is deemed disabled as of May 2018. His pension starts as of September 2018.