Hearings now scheduled sooner at the Appeal Division

We are streamlining the way we schedule hearings at the Appeal Division (AD). Up until now, the process to schedule a hearing at the AD followed three steps:

• First, permission to appeal (we call it “leave”) had to be granted;
• Then we would wait for the parties to send us their arguments;
• Then we would schedule the hearing.

Beginning on May 1, 2019, on a trial basis, we will schedule the hearing as soon as leave is granted. In most cases, this will reduce the time it takes to get to a hearing by 45 days.

Under this new system, you will still have enough time to send us your arguments. You can also request a change of hearing date by contacting us within five business days of receiving the Notice of Hearing.

AD appeals focus on errors the General Division may have made – new evidence is not usually allowed. That’s why most AD hearings will continue to take place by teleconference. If you provide reasons for preferring a different form of hearing, or if you don’t want a hearing at all, the member will take that into consideration.

This new way of scheduling hearings will shorten the time it takes for you to receive an AD decision, while ensuring you still have a full opportunity to present your case to us.