Federal court | Pensions | Federal and Provincial Pension Plans | Federal pension plans
In September 2014, individual decided to stop working due to illness and received Employment Insurance (EI) benefits. Individual returned to work briefly in 2015 but by March 2015 decided to retire and applied for Canada Pension Plan (CPP) benefits, asking to receive CPP benefits as soon as she qualified for them. Individual was entitled to retroactive CPP benefits to June 1, 2014 and as result there was overlap allegedly resulting in overpayment to her of $4,155.00. After Canada Employment Commission did not reconsider its overpayment claim, individual appealed to General Division of Social Security Tribunal. General Division acknowledged that individual had not received complete information about consequences of receiving both EI and CPP benefits and that repaying alleged excess would cause her hardship but believed that result was consequence of Employment Insurance Regulations and that it had no discretion over matter. Regulations stipulated that individual’s CPP benefits should be payable during period when she was receiving EI benefits, even though she had never made request to that effect and was never informed of consequences. Individual appealed and Appeal Division denied individual leave to appeal on basis that she had no reasonable chance of success. Individual applied for judicial review. Application dismissed. Appeal Division’s decision was not unreasonable in light of Regulations in issue. Individual had requested that she begin to receive CPP benefits as soon as she qualified for them, and this amounted to request to receive benefits as of June 1, 2014 during period that overlapped with her receipt of EI benefits. That consequence was product of duly enacted laws and regulations and beyond remedial authority of Court on application for judicial review.
Dalgleish v. Canada (Attorney General) (2018), 2018 CarswellNat 811, 2018 CarswellNat 929, 2018 FC 275, 2018 CF 275, James W. O’Reilly J. (F.C.).
