Employment Insurance (EI)

Decision

[1] T. A. is the Claimant in this case. I’m refusing his request for leave (permission) to appeal. The appeal will not proceed.

Overview

[2] The Claimant applied for Employment Insurance (EI) regular benefits in January 2022. However, he later asked the Canada Employment Insurance Commission (Commission) to backdate his application and treat it as though it had been received in October 2021.^{Footnote 1}

[3] The Commission refused. It concluded that the Claimant hadn’t shown good cause for submitting his application late.

[4] The Claimant appealed the Commission’s decision to the Tribunal’s General Division. But it dismissed his appeal. The Claimant now wants to appeal the General Division decision to the Tribunal’s Appeal Division, but he needs permission for his file to move forward.

[5] I sympathize with the Claimant’s circumstances. However, I’ve found that his appeal has no reasonable chance of success. I have no choice, then, but to refuse permission to appeal.

Issue

[6] Could the General Division have made a relevant error when it concluded that the Claimant didn’t have good cause for filing his application late?

Analysis

[7] Most Appeal Division files follow a two-step process. This appeal is at step one: permission to appeal.

[8] The legal test the Claimant needs to meet at this step is low: Is there any arguable ground on which the appeal might succeed?^{Footnote 2} If the appeal has no reasonable chance of success, then I must refuse permission to appeal.^{Footnote 3}

[9] To decide this question, I considered whether the General Division could have made one of the errors listed in the law.^{Footnote 4}

The Claimant’s appeal has no reasonable chance of success

[10] The General Division had to decide whether the Claimant could backdate his application for EI benefits from January 28, 2022, to October 3, 2022. To do so, the Claimant had to show that he had good cause for filing his application late. Plus, the Claimant’s explanation had to be valid throughout the entire period of the delay.^{Footnote 5}

[11] Proving good cause can be difficult.^{Footnote 6} People have to show that they did what a reasonable person in their situation would have done to satisfy themselves of their rights and obligations under the law.^{Footnote 7} This includes an obligation to take reasonably prompt steps to determine if they qualified for benefits.

[12] The Claimant argues that he provided the General Division with good reasons for his delay: he was looking for work, applying for jobs, doing interviews, and working.

[13] The General Division clearly recognized the reasons the Claimant gave to explain his delay. Ultimately, however, it concluded that the Claimant’s reasons didn’t meet the strict legal test for establishing good cause.

[14] In his application to the Appeal Division, the Claimant doesn’t seem to be alleging that the General Division based its decision on an important mistake about the facts of his case. Nor does he say that the General Division misunderstood the relevant legal test.

[15] Instead, the Claimant simply disagrees with the General Division’s conclusion. He seems to be hoping that I’ll take a fresh look at his case and decide in his favour. However, that’s not something that I can do. The Appeal Division’s limited role doesn’t allow me to intervene just to reweigh the evidence or to settle a disagreement about the application of settled legal principles to the facts of a case.^{Footnote 8}

[16] As a result, I’ve concluded that the Claimant’s appeal has no reasonable chance of success.

[17] Aside from the Claimant’s arguments, I also reviewed the file and examined the General Division decision.^{Footnote 9} The General Division summarized the law and used evidence to support its decision. I did not find evidence that the General Division might have ignored or misinterpreted.

Conclusion

[18] I’ve concluded that the Claimant’s appeal has no reasonable chance of success. I have no choice, then, but to refuse permission to appeal. This means that the appeal will not proceed.