Alternate arrangements policy

The Social Security Tribunal (SST) wants to make sure everyone can participate in appeals on an equal basis. So, we do our best to be accessible and accommodating.

Let us know if you need alternate arrangements. An alternate arrangement is an accommodation to remove a barrier so you can participate fully in an appeal. We’ll accommodate your needs related to a disability or any of the other grounds set out in the Canadian Human Rights Act.

Any participant can ask for alternate arrangements. That includes people like a representative or witness.

Examples of alternate arrangements you can ask for include:

an interpreter, if English or French isn’t your first language
breaks during the hearing
asking participants to speak loudly or slowly
dimmed lighting at your hearing
more time to answer spoken questions

Our commitment to you

We’re committed to:

treating everyone with dignity and respect
providing an inclusive and accessible environment where everyone has equal access to our appeal process and services
meeting our obligations under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Canadian Human Rights Act
accommodating people’s needs as quickly as possible

Client service

We’re committed to removing barriers so everyone has equal access to our services.

To make our services as accessible as possible, we follow these principles:

We want to provide services that:
- respect your dignity and independence
- you can access and use in person
- are inclusive and help you participate fully in an appeal
Everyone has an equal opportunity to benefit from and use our services.
If you ask us for alternate arrangements, as much as we reasonably can, we’ll provide arrangements adapted to your needs.

An alternate arrangement is something we’re all responsible for. We’ll work with parties, representatives, service providers, and the public to accommodate your needs in the best way possible.

How we communicate

We do our best to communicate clearly. If you have specific needs, we’ll communicate with you in ways that work for you.

Support persons

We welcome support persons at hearings. A support person helps you, but they don’t represent you. They can attend a hearing and observe it.

See Support persons for more information about what a support person does.

How to ask for alternate arrangements

If you need alternate arrangements, contact us as soon as possible.

See Alternate arrangements for more information.