| Issue: |
Sub-Issue 1: |
Sub-Issue 2: |
Sub-Issue 3: |
| earnings |
disability pension |
|
|
Summary:
Payments made under the Montreal firemen’s pension plan to a beneficiary whose disability is not medically deemed to be permanent or to preclude a return to work are not in the nature of pension benefits. They have the character of a compensatory benefit to cover a temporary loss of salary, and are subject to allocation. Only payments for a permanent disability are covered by para. 57(3)(a) of the Regulations.
| Issue: |
Sub-Issue 1: |
Sub-Issue 2: |
Sub-Issue 3: |
| earnings |
pension |
definition |
|
Summary:
The claimant, a fireman employed by the City of Montreal, initially received a disability benefit that was supposed to terminate with his return to work. The claimant was never able to return to work, and it was only several months later that the physicians recognized the permanent nature of his disability. The claimant maintains that the disability benefit does not have value as earnings. Referring to its decision in A. Pleau (A-721-95), the FCA refused to characterize the disability benefit paid as a “pension”. The FCA added that in certain cases, the recipient of a disability benefit is not necessarily out of the labour market; the aim of his pension is to remedy the fact that some sectors of the labour market are henceforth permanently closed to him.** A disability benefit that is initially temporary and finally proves to be permanent cannot retroactively have value as a pension within the meaning of the Regulation, unless a mistake has been made. Until the physicians recognized the permanent nature of the disability, it was only temporary, and the payments were in lieu of a disability benefit.
