Decisions relating to the Canada Pension Plan can be made by a Review Tribunal, the Pension Appeals Board, the Federal Court of Canada and the Supreme Court of Canada. A Review Tribunal decision is made following an appeal of the Minister's decision on a request for reconsideration. A Pension Appeals Board decision is made where the Review Tribunal decision has been appealed by one of the parties. A Federal Court of Appeal decision is made where a party makes an application for judicial review of the Pension Appeals Board decision. A Supreme Court decision is the final stage on an appeal of a court's decision.
Pension Appeals Board and Court decisions may be helpful for someone in deciding whether to go ahead with an appeal to a Review Tribunal by giving an idea of how successful similar cases have been. These decisions may also be useful for an appellant in preparing for their appeal. For example, your appeal may involve a question about the law or it may be very similar to another that has been heard by the Pension Appeals Board or the courts.
No. Review Tribunal decisions under the Canada Pension Plan are not published and are not otherwise available to members of the public. Each decision contains personal information and has resulted from a hearing that is private and confidential pursuant to the Canada Pension Plan legislation.
Search Pension Appeals Board Decisions.
The Pension Appeals Board is not a court. Like the Review Tribunal it is an administrative tribunal. This means that Pension Appeals Board decisions are not authoritative or binding on a Review Tribunal and they do not set precedents for how a case must be decided by the Review Tribunal. A Review Tribunal must always apply the legislation to the facts as they are presented at the hearing of the appeal. However, Pension Appeals Board decisions may provide guidance for a Review Tribunal if the Tribunal is interpreting the Canada Pension Plan legislation or if the facts are very similar to a Pension Appeals Board decision.
Yes.
Specific decisions can be obtained from the Registrar of the Pension Appeals Board. Selected Pension Appeals Board decisions are published by the Commerce Clearing House (CCH Canadian Limited) Canadian Employment Benefits and Pension Guide Reports. CCH Canadian Limited also publishes the Annotated Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security Act in which reference is made to Pension Appeals Board decisions.
If you have identified a specific decision (the case name or the case number, e.g. CP 5555, and wish to obtain a copy, you can contact the Registrar of the Pension Appeals Board
by telephone toll-free at: 1-888-640-8001 by mail at: P.O. Box 8567, Station 'T', Ottawa, Ontario, K1G 3H9 by fax at: (613) 995-6834 by E-Mail at: info@pab-cap.gc.ca
When the Federal Court of Canada or the Supreme Court makes a decision involving the Canada Pension Plan, the decision is authoritative for or binding on a Review Tribunal. This means that a Review Tribunal must follow the law set out by the Federal Court or Federal Court of Appeal or Supreme Court of Canada unless the section of the Canada Pension Plan that is addressed in the decision has changed since the court's decision was made. Some decisions of the Federal Court of Canada and Supreme Court may also provide guidance to a Review Tribunal even if they don't deal directly with the Canada Pension Plan legislation.
The Federal Court of Canada and the Supreme Court of Canada can provide copies of specific decisions. Alternatively, you can search either court's database to find a decision relating to a Canada Pension Plan matter. The Commerce Clearing House (CCH Canadian Limited) publishes the Canadian Employment Benefits and Pension Guide Reports which includes some court decisions on Canada Pension Plan cases. References to relevant court decisions can also be found in the Annotated Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security Act which is also published by CCH Canadian Limited.
For information about the Federal Court of Canada or to search for decisions made by the Court, visit the Federal Court web site at: http://decisions.fct-cf.gc.ca/fct/index.html or the Federal Court of Appeal web site at: http://decisions.fca-caf.gc.ca/fct/index.html.
For information about the Supreme Court of Canada or to search for decisions made by the Court, you can visit the Court's web site at http://www.scc-csc.gc.ca/.
To find all of the office locations of different Federal Courts of Canada, visit the Courts Administration Service website at: http://www.cas-satj.gc.ca/offices/locations_e.php. To locate a specific office, just click on the appropriate city which is offered on the map of Canada.
Villani v. Canada (Attorney General) [2001] FCA 248. In this case, the Court has decided a question of law, namely the legal test to be used for determining whether a disability is severe within subparagraph 42(2)(a)(i) of the Canada Pension Plan. For further details please consult the Federal Court of Appeal decision, Villani v. Canada.
Oliveira v. Canada (Attorney General) [2004] FCA 136. The Federal Court of Appeal decided on March 29, 2004 that there are no appeal rights to the Pension Appeals Board where a Review Tribunal has decided there are no new facts to warrant re-opening a decision under subsection 84(2) of the CPP. Persons who want to dispute the Review Tribunal's finding will have to make an application for judicial review to the Federal Court. Please note that this decision does not affect appeal rights where a Review Tribunal decides that there are new facts and then makes a decision whether those facts change the result of the initial Review Tribunal decision. For further details please consult the Federal Court of Appeal decision, Oliveira v. Canada.
The Canadian Employment Benefits and Pension Guide includes selected Pension Appeals Board, Federal Court and Supreme Court decisions and is available in either electronic format or in loose leaf volume. You can search electronically for Pension Appeals Board decisions by subscribing to CCH Online. Alternatively, your local library, particularly a large library or a law library, may carry a subscription to either the CCH database or to the CCH loose leaf publication.
The Annotated Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security Act provides an overview of selected Pension Appeals Board, Federal Court and Supreme Court decisions. The case name and number are identified with the summary information. This CCH publication also provides explanations as to what the legislative provisions mean and how they apply in practice. This publication may be purchased from CCH Canadian Limited. Alternatively, this publication may be available from your local library, particularly a large library or a law library.