We’ve updated our on-line guide, the Social Security Tribunal, to reflect the changes outlined below. The guide can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/lym6spl

Notice of Readiness Eliminated

Because of an appeal backlog, the Social Security Tribunal (SST) has made changes to the way it processes appeals. As it may take up to 18 months to clear its backlog, the SST has eliminated the need for appellants to provide a Notice of Readiness within 365 days of filing an appeal. Instead, appellants can now provide additional information up to 30 days before any hearing date.

Hearing Information Form (HIF) Added

When the SST notifies the parties that it is ready to proceed with an appeal it will also ask them to complete a Hearing Information Form (HIF). The HIF asks parties to indicate if they have a representative, any witnesses, and whether they require a translator. It also asks the parties to indicate what type of hearing they would not participate in. The choices are: a) Written questions and answers (Hearing based on the written record); (b) Videoconference (at a Service Canada Centre); (c) Teleconference (by telephone); (d) Personal appearance of the parties (at a Service Canada Centre).

The SST will also ask the parties to provide dates when they may be unavailable for a hearing and which days of the week and times of day they would prefer a hearing to be scheduled.

Photo ID Required

Service Canada requires appellants to show photo ID before they are allowed to enter a Canada Pension Plan Disability (CPPD) hearing room.

Translation

Initially there was some uncertainty about whether the SST will provide translation services; however, SST’s website and HIF both indicate a translator will be provided if needed.

Legal Update

In a recent appeal decision L. L. v. Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and A. C., 2013 SSTAD 12, the SST Appeals Division wrote:

[15]      To ensure fairness, the Appeal will be examined based on the Appellant’s legitimate expectations at the time of the original filing of the Application for Leave to Appeal with the PAB. For this reason, the Appeal determination will be made on the basis of an appeal de novo in accordance with subsection 84(1) of the Canada Pension Plan, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-8 (CPP or Plan) as it read immediately before April 1, 2013.

This decision is important for individuals who filed their appeal with the previous Review Tribunal before April 1, 2013. Under the previous legislation appellants had an automatic right to an in-person oral hearing before the Tribunal panel. If an appeal was filed before April 1, 2013 it could be argued that the reasoning in this decision be applied and that appellants can ask that their appeal be heard at an in-person oral hearing in accordance with the legislation in place when they filed their appeal. If appellants do not want an in-person oral hearing, they can also ask for a hearing based on the written record, by phone, or teleconference. Here’s a link to this decision on the Canadian Legal Information Institute’s (CanLII) website: http://tinyurl.com/pqv5sjc

Other News

The Ministry responsible for administering the Canada Pension Plan has had a name change. Formerly known as Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) the Ministry is now called Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).

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If you have any questions about the information in this Community Update, please call Peter Beaudin or Ashley Silcock at 604-872-1278 or toll-free at 1-800-663-1278.

P.S. Have you signed up for Our Voice, our monthly e-newsletter? If you would like to receive it please go to this link: http://www.bccpd.bc.ca/ And don’t forget to “like” us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Thank you.

Earlier this year, BCCPD produced a new guide on the Social Security Tribunal (SST) which replaced the Review Tribunal for appeals of Canada Pension Plan Disability denials. We have now updated The Social Security Tribunal guide, to help people who are representing themselves to the SST. Advocates may also find our new guide useful in helping their clients.

The updates include information on the new Ministry governing the Tribunals, as well as information we have learned from seeing the SST in action over the past months.

For the time-being, the guide will be available on-line only. We will make changes to the guide as necessary.

Our sincere thanks to the Law Foundation of Ontario for funding this guide

By Shelley Hourston

For many people with chronic illness or disability, difficulty focusing is an unexpected and often unrecognized challenge. Difficulty focusing can be an invisible side effect of your primary health condition or disability. While your health care provider may mention to you that your chronic pain or depression or MS or… [fill in your disability here]… may affect your ability to focus, this is probably not going to be at the top of your list of concerns at first. And more to the point, difficulty focusing may not happen or become obvious to you immediately. Or it may not appear until you begin a specific medication or treatment. Or … you may notice a problem focusing as a consequence of worry—about money or stigma or another hurdle. And to complicate the issue, what I call “difficulty focusing” you might label “lack of concentration,” “fuzzy-headedness,” “attention deficit,” “lack of will-power,” or “inability to achieve goals.” Sometimes these labels are assigned by others and can cause us to give up before we even start.

Whatever name you use to describe focus or the lack of it, the person best equipped to address it is you. There are dozens of tips for improving concentration, achieving goals and increasing focus, but in my experience, not all will work for you. The challenge is identifying the strategies that produce results for you and your situation. Perhaps you already know what works or maybe you need to experiment with new tools. Tips for adults with attention deficit disorder (ADD) can be useful for people without this diagnosis. Research indicates that mindfulness meditation can improve focus. Psychologist Bill O’Hanlon has created a user-friendly hand-out called “Developing Focus” which you can access below.

Developing Focus Handout