CPP Disability Appeals
Denied Canada Pension Plan disability benefits? Get limited-scope help with your appeal, including flat-fee written submissions. Alberta-wide and fully remote.
Deadlines Come First
A CPP disability (CPP-D) denial can be challenged, but each stage has a deadline. At each stage you generally have 90 days from the day you receive the decision. Keep every decision letter and write down the date it arrived.
Late requests and appeals are sometimes accepted, but only within limits and only with a reasonable explanation. It is safest not to count on that.
How a CPP-D Appeal Works
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Ask for a reconsideration
If your application is denied, you ask Service Canada to reconsider its decision, generally within 90 days of receiving the denial letter. This is a required first step. It is also a chance to add medical evidence and explain how your condition affects your ability to work.
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Appeal to the Social Security Tribunal
If the reconsideration decision is still a denial, you can appeal to the Tribunal’s General Division (Income Security Section), generally within 90 days of receiving the reconsideration decision. The appeal is decided after a hearing or on the written record, and written submissions can help the member focus on the evidence that matters.
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Ask the Appeal Division for permission to appeal
If you disagree with the General Division’s decision, you can apply to the Tribunal’s Appeal Division within 90 days. Permission is needed, and it is not a second hearing of the whole case. The grounds are limited, such as an error of law, an important error of fact, or an unfair process.
For the Tribunal’s own overview, see Canada Pension Plan disability appeals: Process at a glance.
Why CPP-D Applications Are Denied
To qualify, your disability must be both severe (it regularly stops you from doing any substantially gainful work) and prolonged (it is long continued and of indefinite duration, or likely to result in death). You must also have made enough CPP contributions, and your disability must have started while you were still covered.
Denials often turn on medical evidence that describes a diagnosis but not how it limits your ability to work, a gap between the evidence and the date coverage ended, past work attempts or earnings, or treatment that was recommended but not followed. Many of these issues can be addressed on appeal with the right evidence and a clear explanation of how the legal test is met.
How Andrew Can Help
Help is limited-scope, which means you stay in charge of your appeal and get legal help with the parts that matter most. Depending on what you need, this can include:
- Reviewing your denial or reconsideration decision and the evidence on file
- Written appeal submissions that apply the legal test to your evidence
- Advice on gaps in your medical evidence and what may help fill them
- Coaching to prepare you for a Tribunal hearing
Written submissions for a CPP-D appeal are a flat fee of $500. The fee may increase for complex files, and any change is discussed with you before work begins. There is no contingency fee, so you never pay a percentage of your benefits or back pay. See Fees and How It Works.
Services are delivered fully remotely by phone, video and secure email, for clients anywhere in Alberta.
What to Have Ready
- Your most recent decision letter from Service Canada or the Tribunal, and the date you received it
- A copy of your CPP-D application and any reconsideration request you sent
- Medical reports and records you already have
- A short summary of your work history and when you stopped working
Don’t have everything? That is fine. Reach out anyway, especially if a deadline is close.
This page is general information, not legal advice about your situation. No outcome can be guaranteed.
Ready to Talk?
Book a consultation to discuss your CPP-D denial and the most practical way forward.