2. Learn more about appealing to the General Division
Question & Answer
How do I appeal to the Social Security Tribunal about Old Age Security?The General Division of the (SST) sends a letter to confirm that they got your Notice of Appeal and any related documents.
Then they contact Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), which is the government department in charge of Service Canada.
The SST asks ESDC for copies of any documents that deal with the decision about your application.
Next, the SST sends you a letter that:
- explains the appeal process, and
- gives the deadline for you to send in any more documents.
Send in your documents and arguments
Send the SST copies of all the documents you have that support your appeal. You can also send more arguments, if you did not write them in your Notice of Appeal. You can send your documents and arguments by email, mail, or fax. Emailing is the fastest way send them in.
Make sure to keep the original documents. Sending in your documents is called “filing”.
All the documents you send must be in English or French. You must pay to translate any documents that are in other languages.
Once you send in all your documents and arguments, tell the SST that you're ready to go to the next step. You can tell the SST over the phone or in writing.
The SST may also contact you to see if you have sent all your documents in.
The SST sends ESDC copies of anything you send them.
ESDC sends in their documents
The SST then tells ESDC that they have 2 months to send in their documents and arguments in response to your appeal.
The SST sends you everything that the ESDC gives them.
You have 30 days to send any documents or arguments that respond to what the ESDC sent.
Decide about witnesses
If you plan to have witnesses at your hearing, you must tell the SST as soon as possible.
You must also send the SST a witness information form. The SST will give you a deadline to file this form.
Prepare for your hearing
The SST contacts you to:
- find out when you can come to a hearing, and
- tell you what type of hearing it will be.
Next, they send a written notice with details about your hearing.
The SST website has more information about how to prepare for your hearing.
