My Mom(62yo) received Early CPP while working since Dec 2018. This seems to complicate applying for EI Sickness & CPP-D now?

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My Mom(62yo) has been receiving Early CPP Retirement Pension since December 2018 while still working. She’s been a patient at the Lung Disease Clinic at Toronto General since 2016. They decided to start her on medication at her last appointment in March 2019, and she started taking the medication in April. That’s also when she started to seriously consider going on disability.

The EI Sickness Benefits page suggests that the CPP Retirement Pension is deducted from EI Benefits but the CPP-D is not.

Reading the CPP-D Benefit page, my understanding is that there are 2 options depending on if/how long one has received a CPP Retirement Pension.

There’s the “CPP Disability Pension”(CPP-D) if

  • received CPP Retirement Pension for less than 15 months at time of application
  • have been deemed to be disabled before the effective date of your retirement pension

Otherwise, one might qualify for the “CPP Post-Retirement Disability Benefit”(CPP-PRDB).

CPP-D is described as a basic monthly fixed amount($485.20) plus an amount based on how much you contributed to the CPP to a maximum monthly amount of $1335.80. The CPP-PRDB is described as the flat rate component of CPP-D, I’m assuming paid on top of the CPP Retirement Pension. What is the actual likely difference in the total amount received in these two scenarios?

Approval for CPP-D also requires you pay back any CPP Retirement Pension already received, which is most likely just deducted from your first CPP-D payment. It seems there was also an option for my Mom to cancel her CPP Retirement Pension up to six months after it started, which would require paying back all the payments she received since December 2018. I guess it’s too late for that, and it may not have been financially feasible for us anyway.

I’ll admit, I’m a little pissed at how needlessly complicated this all seems. But anyways, just looking for some clarification/advice. Are my Mom’s chances of getting approved for CPP-D too low? Obviously it’s been less than 15 months since her CPP Retirement Pension started, but it’s that second requirement that’s nagging me: “have been deemed to be disabled before the effective date of your retirement pension.” Would trying to cancel her CPP Retirement Pension now (if possible), and then applying for CPP-D improve her chances?

If I am expecting my Mom to get approved for CPP-PRDB and not CPP-D, should we still consider cancelling her CPP Retirement Pension? Aren’t those payments being somewhat wasted, as they’re going to be deducted from her EI Sickness Benefits?

Finally, if one is hoping to get approved for CPP-D, would they report their CPP Retirement Pension on in their EI Reports, even though they’ll have to pay it back if they are approved for CPP-D?

Thanks in advance.

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Hi, this is very detailed, specific, time limited and potentially expensive. I would go straight to the real lawyers for advice if it were me. Free Consultation - Resolute Legal Disability Lawyers

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I second the lawyer idea.

I’ve never heard of the CPP-PRDB.

I wouldn’t cancel the pension that is being received now.

I think they’re pretty good if you write a detailed application.
I would show she tried to keep working but her condition/treatment got worse.
Read the guides David has written: Disability Benefits Archives - Resolute Legal Disability Lawyers
What Conditions Qualify for Disability in Canada? 27 Medical Conditions List
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Best of luck.
It is confusing, stressful, and slow but you only need to get approved once.
Good luck.

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Update Sep 16 2019

Just thought I would provide an update for anyone else that is a little confused by the rules and comes across this thread.

My concern about CPP Retirement being deducted from my mom’s EI Sickness Benefits was wrong. Speaking with someone at Service Canada, I was told that since she had been receiving her Early CPP before she stopped working & applied for EI Sickness, her EI Sickness amount would not be affected. They should make this point clearer on the EI Sickness info page.

I had went ahead and applied my mom for CPP-D, and, as expected, she was approved for CPP-PRDB instead with payments starting in August. Her EarlyCPP+PRDB total per month is $955. That’s $25 less than the average CPP-D amount of $980 per month (works out to $300 less per year). I also don’t know how the CPP-D amount is calculated or whether my mom could have received more than the average.

This page seems to suggest that you can only receive the CPP-PRDB after receiving CPP Retirement for 15 months. I don’t know if an exception was made for my mom’s application or if that information is wrong. Regardless, this is another place where the information needs to be clearer.

I was crossing my fingers that they might make an exception and approve her for CPP-D and cancel her Early CPP, especially since we were only 1 month past the limit. I even wrote them a letter. But they were hard about that 6 month rule. The major downside, from what I understand, is that she’s now stuck with her Reduced Early CPP, and if she had been approved for CPP-D, she would have been able to receive her Full CPP Retirement Pension at 65.

Anyways, if you or anyone you know has taken their Early CPP, but foresee a potential illness in the near future, it may be prudent to cancel the Early CPP in case you need to apply for CPP-D. Obviously, it’s difficult to foresee something like that and uncomfortable to think about. But in our case, my mom was already seeing doctors at the time, and we were already discussing her potentially stopping work. If I had known all this info then, I would have told her not to take her Early CPP.

1 Like
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You have done great work on behalf of your mom and I appreciate you sharing your experiences and knowledge gained with everyone. I did an article that explains exactly how the CPP D amount is calculated. You can read that here: CPP Disability Payment Amounts: How to Know How Much You Get [+Video]

In that article a link to Doug Runchey who is an expert on calculating CPP and CPP D amounts. He is really the only person I have found who will speak publicly about how the calculations are done. If you had any doubts on your mom’s payment amount, you could look to hire him to run the calculation, but it is very rare for Service Canada to mess up the payment amount, unless they are overlooking things like children payments or credit splitting etc.

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.