Alternate arrangements

If you need alternate arrangements

The Social Security Tribunal (SST) wants to make it easy for you to participate in an appeal with us.

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

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. We want to remove barriers so everyone has equal access to our services.

If you need alternate arrangements, let us know as soon as possible.

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

How to ask for alternate arrangements

Contact us. Tell us what you need to participate fully in the appeal.

We may ask you for more information, such as medical records. This will help us better understand your needs and decide how to keep the appeal accessible.

If you need help asking for alternate arrangements, contact us.

For more information, see our alternate arrangements policy.

Things we can help you with

If you have a specific need, you can ask us for a specific type of alternate arrangement.

Here are just a few examples of the types of alternate arrangements we can help you with:

type of hearing
access to information and publications
interpretation
support services
service animals
scent-free environment

Type of hearing

There are 4 ways you can have a hearing:

teleconference
videoconference from a computer or mobile device
videoconference at a Service Canada Centre
in-person at a Service Canada Centre

An in-person hearing or a videoconference hearing at a Service Canada Centre usually takes place at a Service Canada Centre in your area. If the Service Canada Centre can’t provide the arrangement you need, we’ll do our best to find another solution.

For information on Service Canada Centres across Canada, visit the Service Canada website.

Access to information and publications

Our public information, forms, and notices are available on our website and in print (upon request).

You can ask us for an audio recording of a hearing if you want to listen to it again.

We do our best to communicate clearly. But, if you have questions about anything we send you, contact us.

Interpretation

If you need an interpreter at a hearing, we can help. We provide the following free of charge:

spoken language interpretation
sign language interpretation for languages like American Sign Language (ASL), Indigenous sign languages, and langue des signes québécoise [Quebec sign language] (LSQ)
real-time captioning

To get the most accurate interpretation, tell us what your language and exact dialect is.

Ask for an interpreter when you fill out your notice of appeal or your application to the Appeal Division. Or, contact us.

For more information, see Interpreters and translation.

Support services

Maybe you need a personal support service during a hearing at a Service Canada Centre. We can’t arrange personal support services for you. But we’ll work with you and our Service Canada partners to accommodate any personal support services you use to help with:

communication
mobility
personal care
medical needs

If you need an assistive device to participate in a hearing at a Service Canada Centre, contact us at least 3 weeks before the hearing.

Service animals

We welcome people with disabilities with their service animals at our hearings.

If you want to bring a service animal to a hearing at a Service Canada Centre, contact us at least 3 weeks before the hearing.

Scent-free environment

We understand that fragrances cause allergic reactions in some people. We ask participants not to use perfume, aftershave, or other strongly scented products at an in-person hearing.

If we can’t arrange what you ask for

We may not be able to arrange what you ask for. If we can’t provide the specific alternate arrangement you ask for, we’ll let you know as soon as possible.

We’ll do our best to offer something else that will still work for you. We may:

suggest another option
reschedule the hearing
change the type of hearing or where it will be