Employment Insurance (EI)

Decision

[1] An extension of time to apply to the Appeal Division is refused. The application will not proceed.

Overview

[2] The Applicant, F. Y. (Claimant), filed an Application with the Appeal Division. He is asking for leave (permission) to appeal the General Division decision.

[3] The General Division found that the Claimant had received earnings that had to be allocated. This resulted in an overpayment of Employment Insurance benefits. As it found that the Claimant had knowingly given false statements, the Respondent, the Canada Employment Insurance Commission (Commission), imposed a penalty, on top of the overpayment. The General Division found that the Commission had imposed the penalty in a judicial manner.

[4] The Claimant does not actually challenge the General Division’s decision.^{Footnote 1} He has paid part of the overpayment and penalty. However, he is seeking a reduction of both the overpayment and penalty. He says that he is experiencing financial hardship. The Appeal Division is unable to offer any relief to the Claimant because it does not have any power to reduce debts.

The Claimant’s application was late

[5] As far as the Claimant’s application to the Appeal Division, the Claimant was late.^{Footnote 2} Before the Appeal Division can even consider the Claimant’s application, the Claimant must get an extension of time to file his application.^{Footnote 3} However, the Claimant did not explain why his application was late. Without a reasonable explanation to account for the delay, the Appeal Division also has no option but to refuse an extension.^{Footnote 4} This means this ends the appeal.

The appeal does not have a reasonable chance of success

[6] However, even if the Claimant’s application had been filed on time, I would not have given the Claimant to move ahead with his appeal. To get permission to move ahead, I have to be satisfied that there is an arguable case that the General Division made a jurisdictional, procedural, legal, or a certain type of factual error.^{Footnote 5} Having an arguable case is the same thing as saying the appeal has a reasonable chance of success.^{Footnote 6}

[7] The Commission argues that the General Division did not make any errors. The Claimant does not dispute this. I also do not see that the General Division made any of these kinds of errors, so I am not satisfied that the appeal has a reasonable chance of success.

The Claimant’s Options

[8] At a case conference held earlier today, the Claimant confirmed that he was concerned with the amount of the overpayment and penalty. He says that he is experiencing financial hardship. He says that after the pandemic started, he incurred (unrelated) debts of around $35,000. He is looking for some relief. He has already repaid part of the debt. He has already contacted CRA and negotiated a repayment plan. He currently repays about $200 monthly.

[9] The Commission confirmed that it would not review or reduce the amount of the overpayment or penalty. It was of the position that this was a matter for the Canada Revenue Agency to consider.

[10] The Claimant states that he is not working presently. If the current repayment plan is too burdensome for the Claimant at this time and he is looking to revisit or renegotiate the repayment plan, he can contact CRA at the number listed on the Notice of Debt, at 1‑866-864-5823.

[11] Otherwise, he can write to CRA and ask for a reduction or even a write-off and show that he is experiencing financial hardship. The Employment Insurance Regulations indicates that the Commission has the discretion to write off overpayments in specific circumstances, but as a matter of practice, the Commission defers to the CRA to assess a claimant’s situation and make a recommendation.

Conclusion

[12] I have not given the Claimant an extension of time to apply to the Appeal Division. This means that the application will not be going ahead.