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EI - General. Molchan v. Canada (Attorney General)
In Molchan v. Canada (Attorney General) (Fed CA, 2024) the Federal Court of Appeal summarized some of the EI scheme:(1) Relevant Framework
[15] Employment insurance benefits are payable to claimants who meet the statutory requirements. To receive benefits, claimants must first qualify to receive benefits. They must demonstrate that they have suffered an interruption of earnings from employment and that they have had a minimum number of hours of insurable employment in a period preceding the claim (EIA, ss. 7, 8).
[16] Claimants must also not be disentitled to receive benefits. Pursuant to paragraph 18(1)(a) of the EIA, a claimant is not entitled to benefits if the claimant fails to prove that they were capable of and available for work and unable to obtain suitable employment.
[17] Subsection 52(1) of the EIA provides that the Commission may reconsider a claim for benefits within 36 months after benefits have been paid or would have been payable. If the Commission decides that a person has received money by way of benefits for which the person was not qualified or to which the person was not entitled, the Commission may seek repayment of the monies overpaid under subsections 52(2) and 52(3) of the EIA. If the Commission is of the opinion that a false or misleading statement or representation was made in connection with the claim, the Commission has an additional 36 months within which to reconsider the claim (EIA, subsection 52(5)).
[18] In exercising its discretion to reconsider a claim, the Commission is guided by a number of principles set out in its Digest of Benefit Entitlement Principles. Chapter 17 of the Digest addresses among other things, error correction and reconsideration. Sections 17.3.2.2, 17.3.3 and 17.3.3.2 are relevant to this application.
[19] Section 17.3.2.2 provides that a Commission error will occur when the Commission has all the relevant information needed to make a decision, but the information does not support the final decision. If benefits were incorrectly paid, the Commission will correct the error currently and no overpayment will be created. However, if the error resulted in a decision that is contrary to the structure of the EIA, the Commission will correct the error retroactively and an overpayment will occur.
[20] Additionally, section 17.3.3, entitled "“Reconsideration policy”", provides that the Commission has developed a policy to ensure a consistent and fair application of section 52 of the EIA and to prevent creating debt when a claimant was overpaid through no fault of their own. It further states that a claim will only be reconsidered when (1) benefits have been underpaid, (2) benefits were paid contrary to the structure of the EIA, (3) benefits were paid as a result of a false or misleading statement, and (4) the claimant ought to have known there was no entitlement to the benefits received. Section 17.3.3.2 specifies that decisions on availability are not decisions that run contrary to the structure of the EIA.
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