1. Appeal to the General Division
To start your appeal to the General Division of the (SST), you complete a Notice of Appeal. You can use the online form or fill out a Portable Document Format (PDF) version.
You must send in your Notice of Appeal within 90 days of getting the decision from Service Canada.
In the Notice, you explain why:
- you think Service Canada's decision was wrong, and
- you're eligible for .
Attach any documents that support the reasons why you think you should be getting the benefits. Your reasons are called arguments. And the documents are evidence.
Evidence is used to prove that something is true or false. Evidence can come in many forms. For example, can be a medical report from a doctor or information from a witness.
You might also appeal because Service Canada rejected your reconsideration request because it was late. You need to explain why they should not have done this.
CLEO has a Guided Pathway that helps you fill out the Notice of Appeal.
Attach Service Canada’s decision
You must attach a copy of the reconsideration decision to your Notice.
If you cannot find the decision, contact Service Canada to get a copy. You can contact a local office or call 1-800-622-6232.
Select a type of hearing
On your Notice of Appeal, you can select the type of hearing you want. You can ask for a hearing that's:
- in person,
- by video conference,
- on the phone, or
- in writing.
But there may be reasons why you cannot get that type of hearing. For example, another person involved in the appeal needs a different type of hearing than what you selected.
The SST will let you know what type of hearing you'll have.
File your Notice of Appeal
Send your Notice of Appeal to the SST by email, fax, or mail. The contact information is on the Notice. Sending in your Notice of Appeal is called filing.
Along with a copy of your reconsideration decision, you must also send any supporting documents.
Send your appeal on time even if you do not have all your supporting documents. You can send more documents later.
The SST tells you the deadline to file your documents. The deadline is usually 8 months after you file your appeal. But the SST member can set a deadline that is sooner or later.
If you need more time, you should ask the SST. You can do this by email, mail, or telephone. The longest deadline the SST gives is 20 months.
If you miss the deadline
If you want to appeal but miss the 90-day deadline, you should still complete and file your Notice of Appeal.
But you must also fill out section 8 of the Notice called Late Appeal. In that section, you explain why your appeal is late.
You can also send in documents, like a doctor's note, to support your reasons.
The SST decides whether or not to accept your late appeal based on what you write.
If the General Division refuses to take your appeal because it's late, you may be able to appeal this decision to the Appeal Division. See step 4.
