How to find decisions on cases like yours
The Social Security Tribunal (SST) and the courts publish decisions online. You can search these decisions to help you:
- understand how the law works
- understand how SST members make their decisions
- find cases like yours (case law) that you can use to support arguments in your appeal.
Learn more about how to use case law in your appeal.
How to search SST decisions
The best way to search our decisions is on our website. You can search by using:
- the basic search, or
- the advanced search
The advanced search is the best way to find decisions to help with your appeal.
Advanced search
If you use the Advanced Search, you can be very specific about what you’re looking for. This will give you the best results.
On the Advanced Search page, you can combine multiple search fields to narrow down your results. You can use as many of these fields as you like, in any combination.
Tip:
You can select more than 1 option in search fields with a dropdown menu. After clicking on an option, you can add more options by clicking again inside the dropdown box. Remove an option by clicking on the “x” beside it.
Full text search
In the Full text search field, you can enter any keywords (words or phrases) you think will help narrow down the subject matter of decisions. This can help you find decisions with issues and facts that are like yours.
The words you enter in the Full text search field will appear in the text of the decisions. For example, if you enter “rehabilitation,” all the results will have either:
- the word “rehabilitation”
- or related words, like “rehab”
You can search for more than 1 keyword at a time. Check out some keyword search tips.
Case name, Neutral citation, Reference number
If you’re looking for a specific decision, you can use the case name, neutral citation, or reference number to find that exact decision.
The case name states the names of all parties to the appeal, starting with the appellant’s name. The case name uses initials in place of full names of individuals. If you’re searching by case name, you only need to put in one party’s name. If it’s an individual, only use their initials.
The neutral citation is a unique identifier for each decision we publish. It shows the year the decision was issued, followed by “SST” to show it’s an SST decision. The last number is based on the number of decisions published that year. The neutral citation usually looks like this: 2024 SST 123.
The neutral citation looked different before 2018.
The reference number is the SST’s internal file number. Ordinarily you would only know this number for your own appeal.
Decision date
You can limit your search to decisions issued within a specific time frame using the Decision date fields. Do that by entering a starting date and an ending date in the Decision date fields.
Member
If you want to find decisions issued by a specific member (or specific members), select their name from the member dropdown menu.
Division
The Division field allows you to narrow your search by decisions issued at the General Division or Appeal Division. If you don’t use this field, you’ll see decisions from both divisions.
Decision
The decision dropdown menu allows you to narrow your search based on the outcome of the decision (for example, whether the appeal was allowed or dismissed). Reading the reasons why appellants won or lost can help you understand how SST members make their decisions.
Featured decisions
Featured decisions include a summary of the decision. If you select “Yes” in the Featured decisions dropdown menu, you’ll only see decisions with a summary. This can be helpful if you want to get an idea of what the decision is about without reading the whole thing. Not all decisions have a summary.
Collection
The Collection dropdown menu allows you to narrow your search by benefit type. Choose the benefit type that applies to you.
Subjects
You can use the Subject field to narrow your search to a specific topic or issue. There are lots of topics listed in the Subjects dropdown menu for you to choose from.
The Subjects dropdown menu will give you results for decisions published in recent years.
Basic search
If you use the basic search, you can enter whatever words you want. This is the easiest way to search, but it may not get you the best results. Using the advanced search will usually give you results that are more useful for your appeal.
Keyword search tips
Tip: Choose good search words
SST decisions will use words that are similar or the same as words you may have seen in your reconsideration decision. Using some of the words in your reconsideration or General Division decision could help you to find decisions on cases that are like yours. The best words will be the ones that explain the reasons why you think you should get benefits or why the letter said you can’t get benefits.
Tip: Use Boolean operators
Boolean operators are simple words or characters you can use in your search phrase to be more specific about what you’re looking for. They give instructions to the search about how to interpret the words you’re using. Learn more about the operators you can use on our help page.
Understanding the quick facts box
At the top of every SST decision, you’ll see a box with some quick facts about the decision that follows. It looks like this:
The quick facts box shows you:
- The case name (the first line of text inside the box)
- The benefit type (collection)
- The date the decision was made
- The neutral citation
- The SST reference number
- The name of the member who made the decision
- If the decision was at the Appeal Division or General Division
- The outcome of the decision (for example, whether the appeal was allowed or dismissed)
- If the decision has a summary (featured decision)
- The subject matter of the decision (you’ll only see this information for more recent decisions)
Related decisions and decisions reviewed by a court
The quick facts box also shows you related decisions if they’re available. For example, if you’re looking at an Appeal Division decision, you may find a link to the related General Division decision on the “Related decisions” line.
If a decision was reviewed by a court, you might see a link to the court decision on the “Decision reviewed by a court in” line.
Looking at related decisions and decisions reviewed by a court can show you how a case was decided at different levels. A higher level might change the decision of a lower level. For example, if you’re looking at an Appeal Division decision, clicking on the link to a decision reviewed by a court will show you if the court upheld the Appeal Division decision.
Citations before 2018
Citations for decisions issued before January 1, 2018 have the following format:
2013 SSTGDEI 123 or 2014 SSTAD 321 or 2015 SSTGDIS 213
“GDEI” means it’s a General Division decision about Employment Insurance.
“GDIS” means it’s a General Division decision about income security (Canada Pension Plan, including disability, or Old Age Security).
“AD” means it’s an Appeal Division decision.
How to search federal court decisions
SST decisions usually refer to important court decisions that interpret the law about the issue(s) under appeal. You can also search for cases with similar issues and facts to yours on the individual courts’ websites:
Decisions from these courts are also available on CanLII.