Navigators
Who can have a navigator
You don’t have to ask for a navigator. We’ll give you one if we see that you’re representing yourself or if you don’t have a professional representative.
At the General Division, you can have a navigator for
- Old Age Security (OAS) and Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) appeals
- Canada Pension Plan (CPP) disability appeals
- Other CPP appeals
- Employment Insurance (EI) Charter challenge appeals (when your appeal involves rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms)
- EI group appeals
At the Appeal Division, you can have a navigator for
- any type of appeal (once you have permission to appeal)
When we’ll assign a navigator to your appeal
At the General Division, we assign you a navigator as soon as we get your appeal.
At the Appeal Division, we assign you a navigator as soon as the SST member (the decision-maker) gives you permission to appeal.
If you need more help
We have a list of organizations if you need more help. Your navigator can tell you about that list.
But your navigator can’t refer you to a specific representative or organization. It’s up to you to pick a representative if you decide to have one.
If you have a navigator, and then decide to get a representative
For most appeals, you’ll stop having a navigator if you get a professional representative, like a lawyer.
You’ll keep your navigator if your representative isn’t a professional. For example, if your representative is a family member or a friend.
You’ll also keep your navigator if your EI appeal is part of a group at the General Division.
The General Division and Appeal Division have different navigators
If you appeal at the Appeal Division, we’ll give you a new navigator.
The navigators at the General Division are specialists in the General Division appeal process. The Appeal Division has its own specialized navigators.
Navigators for group appeals
When 2 or more people from the same workplace appeal the same issue or issues, we may handle their appeals as a group. This is only for EI benefits. We call this an “EI group appeal”.
If your appeal is part of an EI group appeal at the General Division, you’ll have a navigator even if you have a professional representative, like a lawyer. The navigator will handle all the appeals in the group.
The navigator will coordinate the details of the EI group appeal to make sure it’s processed efficiently. They’ll make sure all the appeals in the group move through the appeal process together. These navigators are also available to answer any questions you may have about the appeal process.
How the navigator service has grown
Text version
November 2019
Our navigators started helping people with Canada Pension Plan (CPP) disability appeals at the General Division
November 2020
Our navigators started helping people with all types of appeals at the Appeal Division
May 2021
We started offering navigators to people with General Division appeals relating to
- Old Age Security (OAS)
- Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS)
- CPP (non-disability)
- EI Charter
October 2021
Our navigators started handling EI group appeals at the General Division