Old Age Security (OAS) and Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS)

Decision and reasons

Decision

[1] I am allowing the appeal. Furthermore, I find that the Applicant, J. F., filed an appeal to the General Division on time. I am therefore referring the matter back to the General Division to decide whether the Applicant is eligible for a pension under the Old Age Security Act (OAS Act).

Settlement agreement

[2] I am making this decision following a pre-hearing conference held on May 1, 2020. The Applicant, his representative, and a representative of the Minister all participated in the conference. The purpose of the conference was to discuss the Minister’s proposal outlined in his letter dated April 14, 2020.^{Footnote 1}

[3] At the conference, the parties agreed as follows:

1. The General Division made an error of jurisdiction and fact in finding that the Applicant had received the Minister’s reconsideration decision by September 24, 2016.^{Footnote 2} In particular, the General Division relied on a presumption rather than assessing the evidence before it.
2. In this situation, it is appropriate to give the decision that the General Division should have given.^{Footnote 3}
3. The Applicant received the Minister’s reconsideration decision in July 2019.^{Footnote 4} Therefore, he appealed that decision on time.^{Footnote 5}
4. It is therefore appropriate to refer the matter back to the General Division to determine whether the Applicant is eligible for a pension under the OAS Act.

Conclusion

[4] Based on the information available to me, I allow the appeal in accordance with the settlement agreement outlined above.