Social Security Tribunal of Canada

How to use past decisions to help your appeal

The Social Security Tribunal (SST) and the courts publish decisions online. You can search these decisions to find ones that are like your case. Then, you can use cases like yours (case law) to make arguments in your appeal

Learn how to search for decisions.

Which decisions will help you the most

Case law helps you understand what the SST or the courts have decided in appeals that are like yours. You can use case law to help make arguments in your appeal.

Recent decisions are better 

Choose more recent decisions where possible. If you choose older decisions, there could be more recent decisions that have changed the way that members apply the law. Sometimes, there are also changes in the law itself. If that happens, parts of the older decisions wouldn’t be relevant anymore.

Pick the right benefit type

We have decisions for Employment Insurance (EI), Canada Pension Plan (CPP) disability, other CPP benefits and Old Age Security (OAS) / Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS). Soon, we’ll also have decisions for Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) appeals. Make sure you pick decisions about the same type of benefit you applied for.

Look in the right division

We have two levels of appeal at the SST:

  • General Division (first level of appeal)
  • Appeal Division (second level of appeal)

For EI appeals, the rules about how members make decisions at the General Division are different from the rules at the Appeal Division. If you’re at the Appeal Division, you’ll usually want to look at decisions from that division.

For appeals related to CPP disability, other CPP, and OAS/GIS benefits, you can look at appeals from both the General Division and the Appeal Division.

Appeal Division decisions aren’t binding on the General Division, but the General Division must give an explanation if it doesn’t follow case law from the Appeal Division.

Find decisions with the same issues 

Make sure you understand the issue in your case, for example: why you were denied benefits. The issue will be written in your reconsideration decision (for example: “Issue: Voluntarily leaving employment”).

Once you know the issue in your case, you can do a keyword search with those words to find decisions that have the same issues as yours. You can also use the Subject dropdown menu in the advanced search to select an issue.

Check the “Issue” section of the decisions you find. Look for ones that have issues that are a lot like yours.

Find decisions with similar facts 

Next, you’ll need to read the decisions you found and find ones that have facts like yours. This could take you a while. It takes patience and effort. But it’s important. If the decision has facts that are different from yours, then it’s less likely to help your case.

Start by reading the overview. Then read the headings (bold text) in the “Analysis” section. If it sounds like your situation, then read the details and see if the facts are like yours. If the facts are like your case, you’ll need to explain to the member how they’re the same.

Check to see if the decision has been overturned 

Before you rely on a decision, check to see:

  • if there are any related decisions
  • if the decision was reviewed by a court

If so, read those decisions to see if the decision you found was overturned.

Look for both SST decisions and court decisions

Since there are more SST decisions than court decisions, you’re more likely to find SST decisions that are similar to your situation. These can help you understand how SST members apply the law to specific circumstances. You might be able to argue that the member should take the same approach in your appeal.

The federal courts can review SST decisions to see if they are reasonable. Their decisions are binding. This means that SST members must apply the law the same way that the court did. You can see how members have applied important court decisions by looking at SST decisions, or you can look at the court decisions themselves.

What to do with the decisions you find

If you find decisions that you want to use to help your appeal, you should send them to us. You don’t need to send us the whole decision. You can send us the neutral citation or links to the decisions that you think are useful. Make sure you explain how they’re like your case and why they’re useful. Be as specific as possible. You can mention or quote specific paragraphs or sections of the decision when you do this. 

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