Canada Pension Plan Disability Claims in Alberta and Saskatchewan

At Ludwar Law Firm, clients with the same kinds of injuries and disabilities come in seeking Canada Pension Plan disability and private long-term disability insurance (LTD). The disabilities may be the same, but there are some differences in how their claims must be handled. The two main differences are:

• CPP doesn't consider your previous training, education and experience when deciding whether you are employable. With private LTD, if you are unable to do the job you were able to do before, you may be eligible for disability. The test for LTD is whether you can get a "reasonable" occupation, considering your background. CPP only looks at whether you can get any "substantially gainful occupation." If you were a professional or a highly skilled tradesperson, and you cannot work at that job but can work at a fast-food restaurant, then according to CPP, you can be gainfully employed. If you cannot get a job where you live but could get a job in another city, you will also not qualify for CPP.
• CPP requires that your disability be "long continued and of indefinite duration." So, for example, if you are in a coma but a doctor believes that you will be out of your coma in one year; your disability is not considered to be prolonged and indeterminate. In private LTD claims, if you eventually recover, you can get compensation for the time that you are off work, even if you are able to go back to work during the course of your lawsuit or disability claim. In CPP, you cannot.