I’ve just hit the 170-day mark. I called Service Canada about a month ago to see where my application was at as I was (wrongly) under the assumption it normally takes about 4-months.
During the phone call, the agent said it was unlikely they needed any more information – they would have reached out to me or my psychiatrist (he submitted the paperwork as I have mental health issues and my GP is a young resident) by now.
Is there any truth to the fact they would have reached out by now? Could they possibly have not opened my file at all by the 170-day mark?
I have a fellow bipolar friend who was approved about a year ago (in 4-months) who said she never got any communication other than the approval letter.
Anything is possible, but they don’t always reach out to you. You could just get a letter in the mail saying you are approved or denied. If things drag on too long and you can’t get answers there is a process you can follow to file a complaint against Service Canada.
David Brannen
Disability Lawyer with Resolute Legal
The response posted above is based on the limited factual information made available and is not intended as a full and complete response to the question. The only reliable manner to obtain complete and adequate legal advice is to consult with a lawyer, fully explain your situation, and allow the lawyer enough time to research the applicable law and facts required to give an adequate opinion. The basic information provided above is intended as a public service only, a full one-on-one discussion with a lawyer should be done before taking any any action. The information posted on this forum is available to the viewing public and is not intended to create a lawyer client relationship with any person. If you want one-on-one advice, please click here to request a free consultation or call toll free 1-877-282-5188 to speak with a member with our disability claim support team.
I spent a LONG time on the phone to speak to an agent yesterday. She tried to have me believe the 170-days started from the additional documents I sent in October, but I told her it starts from the completed application in July (which had my application, application from my doctor, and two medical reports). She eventually agreed with this and sent a notice to the processing department and told me they have 15 business days to respond.
I will follow your advice and make a complaint if this isn’t cleared-up quickly.
Thanks again!
EDIT: the additional document was something I’d received from a previous medical provider and not something that Service Canada had asked for. Just to be clear!
My husband hit 200 days in December. Still no decision. He called in December they said they would send off an email which would take 2 weeks for a response. Two weeks later he called back and told his file was set to be reviewed in 4-6 weeks. It was clear they hadn’t even reviewed it.
He called back again and told they would send another email and to call back in another 2 weeks.
It’s ridiculous and they need to fix the system. They are waiting 6 months before they even look at the stupid forms.
I have several medical reports that were emailed to me and the doctor is no longer available to certify them. My family lawyer says he can’t notarize them from an email.
Has Service Canada been known to accept un-certified documents?
Also, I got accepted for the DTC…is it worth sending that information in?
Medico-legal assessments don’t generally come with a doctors stamp. They’re submitted to the court with an Acknowledgement of Expert Duty (in Ontario, at least). These days, they’re generally sent to the Plaintiff via email with a scanned signature of the doctor.
Even my insurer IMEs are like this.
I’ll try my GP. These are additional medical reports over-and-above the ones I’ve sent in – I was able to get the original doctor to certify two substantial medical reports with my application.
Apparently calling CPP at 08hr30 means you don’t get horrible wait times, so that was refreshing. I got a status of my file.
What wasn’t refreshing was to be told I’m at 190-days and it will be another 6-8 weeks before a medical adjudicator looks at my file. At which point they could obviously ask for more medical information, which would delay the process more.
Although Service Canada instructs to submit only certified copies some of the documents I sent to them were not certified. They were all accepted. At least Service Canada didn’t say anything about it. Also some other participants of this forum did the same.
If you are not able to certify your documents just send them the way they are.
Thank you for that!!! Some of my documents I received electronically (meidco-legal) and I’m unable to contact or get the original doctor to certify and I no longer have a relationship whit my personal injury lawyer as my file is closed and my notary has no way to know that a document printed on my home printer is real.
This would make a big difference to the case as one uncertified document shows me as being severely and permanently disabled right after my accident.
