Service standards
The Social Security Tribunal has service standards for processing appeals. Our service standards set an expectation for how many days it should take for us to complete appeals under normal circumstances. Appellants should know how long it will take to get a decision in their appeal. You can see our current service standards below.
Information on how we fare against our service standards is also included below. This is like a report card for the Tribunal. We use this information to assess our performance, to help us focus on areas for improvement.
We update this information quarterly. Our progress reports provide the information on our performance for previous fiscal years.
On this page
General Division – Employment Insurance
Service standard: Final decisions made within 45 days from filing of application
Target: 80% of decisions finalized within 45 days
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Our performance 2020-21
Our performance Quarter % completed within 45 days Average days April-June 74% 39.6 July-September - - October-December - - January-March - - Year-to-date - -
General Division – Income Security (Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security)
Service standard: Final decisions made within 70 days of the parties being ready for a hearing
Target: 80% of decisions finalized within 70 days
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Our performance 2020-21
Our performance Quarter % completed within 70 days Average days April-June 60% 80 July-September - - October-December - - January-March - - Year-to-date - -
Appeal Division – Permission to appeal
Service standard: Decision on permission to appeal made within 45 days from filing of application
Target: 80% of decisions finalized within 45 days
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Our performance 2020-21
Our performance Quarter % completed within 45 days Average days April-June n/a* n/a* July-September - - October-December - - January-March - - Year-to-date - - *New service standards in effect as of July 1, 2020.
Appeal Division – Final decision
Service standard: Final decisions made within 150 days from the date permission to appeal was given
Target: 80% of decisions finalized within 150 days
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Our performance 2020-21
Our performance Quarter % completed within 150 days Average days April-June n/a* n/a* July-September - - October-December - - January-March - - Year-to-date - - *New service standards in effect as of July 1, 2020.
Exceptions
We may not be able to meet our service standards in the following situations:
- constitutional cases
- late appeals
- cases with added parties
- cases where adjournments or extensions of time have been granted
Other factors that may affect our ability to meet our service standards include:
- group appeals
- a surge in the volume of cases
- the complexity of certain cases
- the availability of Tribunal members