Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement Appeal Division: How to appeal
Asking for permission to appeal
The form asks you to explain why you think the General Division made a mistake or if you have new evidence that you didn’t present to the General Division. At this stage, you need to convince the Appeal Division to allow your appeal to go ahead. This is called getting “leave to appeal”. The Appeal Division can only consider specific criteria. You have to show the Appeal Division that you have a reasonable argument or that you have new evidence.
Sending supporting documents
We encourage you to send us documents you think will support your appeal, if you have any.
You don’t need to send documents that were given to the General Division. The Appeal Division already has those documents.
The Social Security Tribunal (SST) doesn’t investigate or seek out supporting documents (evidence). We don’t contact people to get more information on your behalf. It’s up to you to send us your supporting documents.
If your appeal relates to residence in Canada, supporting documents could include:
- driver’s license
- proof of medical coverage and medical records
- utility bills
- work records
- tax records
- travel documents, such as a passport
- letters from witnesses
If your appeal relates to other things like age or marital status, supporting documents could include:
- passport
- birth certificate
- marriage certificate or statutory declaration of common-law union
- documents from religious institutions
- letters from witnesses
- proof of divorce or separation
- medical records
Send us your documents by email, mail or fax. If you send them by email, make sure they’re in a format we can open.
We share the documents we receive with all the parties involved in your appeal.
Keep your originals. Send us copies.
Costs
There’s no fee to appeal to the Social Security Tribunal (SST).
But you may have to pay costs related to your appeal if you:
- make photocopies of documents you want to send to us
- send documents to us by Canada Post or a courier service
- hire a representative
- translate documents into either English or French
- travel to an in-person hearing
In very rare cases, if you must attend a hearing, you may be able to get reimbursed for travel expenses, living expenses or lost income. The SST chairperson decides if there are special reasons that justify a reimbursement under section 63 of the Department of Employment and Social Development Act. Learn about these special situations in our policy on reimbursement of expenses and payment of allowances.