The 4 of 6 years is just to determine eligibility for CPPD, but it is not how the CPP disability benefit amount is calculated. The CPP benefit amount considers your total contributions to CPP. Certainly having lower contributions in recent years will result un a lower overall contributions amount and benefit payment.
I don’t believe a person can pay more into CPP that is allowed based on earnings, but that is something you could ask Service Canada.
There are very limited exceptions to the gainful income rule. You would need to show you are in a sheltered work setting and “not really” doing any productive work (called benevolent employer situation) or that you are paid for work, but not really working at all (we see this with family businesses where income is assigned to a person not doing much work). It doesn’t sound like either of these fit for you.
THe CPP gainful threshold is a hard number. It use to be more subjective, but regulations were brought in in 2014 to just make it a hard number to determine gainful / not gainful for CPPD.
David Brannen
Disability Lawyer with Resolute Legal
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