Canada Pension Plan

Canada Pension Plan, or CPP pays benefits to those who have paid into the Plan while working in Canada.  You and your family can become eligible for various reasons, such as:

• You are between the ages of 60 and 70
• You are unable to work because of a disability
• Your spouse or partner has died.

Our Clinic offers information, advice and representation about denials of CPP benefits. We most frequently give advice to people who have been denied the CPP Disability benefit.  We will assist with writing reconsideration letters if you have been denied any benefits. We will also assist with the filing of appeals to the Social Security Tribunal and in the appropriate cases represent you at the Social Security Tribunal.

We also will provide representation in the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal if we feel your case warrants this level of representation.  We are very selective about doing appeals in Federal Court.

Unfortunately we are not able to assist with filling out application forms. If you need assistance with filling out forms, we will refer you to the appropriate community agencies.

What to do if you have been denied a CPP benefit?

If your application is denied, you will receive a letter explaining why. You have 90 days from the date of the letter to ask Service Canada for a “reconsideration” of the decision. If you are denied again, you will receive a letter explaining the reasons.   You can file a written appeal of the decision to the Social Security Tribunal (SST) within 90 days of receiving the Reconsideration decision.

You can, and you should contact the legal clinic for advice and help with this process.