Appeal for Earlier Retirement Pension Start Date Dismissed

Citation: RM  v  [NAME] , 2026  SST  284 Social Security Tribunal of Canada General Division – Income Security Section Decision Appellant: [redacted] Respondent: [redacted] Decision under appeal: [NAME] reconsideration decision dated October 31, 2025 (issued by Service Canada) Tribunal member: [NAME] of hearing: In person Hearing date: February 11, 2026 Hearing participants: Appellant Respondent’s representative Decision date: February 11, 2026 File number: GP-25-1881 On this page Decision Overview What the Appellant must prove Reasons for my decision Conclusion Decision [ 1 ] The appeal is dismissed. [ 2 ] The Appellant, R. M., can’t have his [NAME] ( [NAME] ) retirement pension payments start earlier than December 2024. [ 3 ] This decision explains why I am dismissing the appeal. Overview [ 4 ] The Appellant applied for a [NAME] retirement pension. The [NAME] (Minister) says it got his application in November 2024. Footnote 1 The Minister approved his application. It said his payments start effective December 2024. [ 5 ] The Appellant disagrees with the start date of his retirement pension. He appealed the Minister’s decision to the Social Security Tribunal’s General Division. [ 6 ] The Appellant says he spent months trying to get information about credit splitting. He says he thought he needed this information to complete his application. He spent months trying to get that information from Service Canada. When he got the information, he completed and sent his application. And, Service Canada said he could get his claim backdated. He says the government should not hold back his payments. He wants the Minister to pay him for the months of October and November 2024. [ 7 ] The Minister says it paid the Appellant the earliest the law allows. It also did an investigation into his claims of administrative error and erroneous advice but would not be making any changes to the start date of his retirement pension. What the Appellant must prove [ 8 ] The law says a retirement pension is payable starting the latest of the following: Footnote 2 a) the month the Appellant turned 60 b) if he was under 65 when he applied, the month after he applied c) if he was 65 or older when he applied, 11 months before he applied (but no earlier than when he turned 65) d) the month he chose in his application Reasons for my decision [ 9 ] The Minister calculated the Appellant’s retirement pension start date correctly based on what the law says. I will explain the reasons for my decision next. The earliest the Appellant’s retirement pension can start is December 2024 [ 10 ] The earliest the Appellant’s retirement pension can start is December 2024. [ 11 ] The Appellant was born in [DATE]. He turned 60 years old in September 2024. He will turn 65 years old in September 2029. In his application, he asked for his pension to start as soon as he qualified (the month after his 60th birthday – October 2024 ). Footnote 3 [ 12 ] The law says an application is made when the Minister gets it in writing. Footnote 4 Based on the documents in the file, the Minister says it got the Appellant’s application in November 2024. [ 13 ] Because the Appellant was under 65 years old when he applied, the law says his retirement pension starts being payable the month after he applied. The month after he applied is December 2024. [ 14 ] The latest of the above dates is December 2024. December 2024 is when the Minister start paying the Appellant his retirement pension. Footnote 5 This means he started getting a retirement pension the earliest the law allows. Administrative error and erroneous advice [ 15 ] The Tribunal doesn’t have the authority to decide if the Minister made an error or gave bad advice. Footnote 6 [ 16 ] The Appellant says a Service Canada representative told him he could get back payments from October 2024. He said Service Canada should have given out more information about the retirement pension application when he applied – not after. He says a representative from Service Canada told him that there are records of his efforts to get information about the credit split to process his application. That should be considered. [ 17 ] I explained that the Tribunal and the Minister are independent from each other. The Tribunal doesn’t have the jurisdiction (power) to address any allegations of administrative error or erroneous advice related to his application. Only the Minister has the discretion to investigate any claims of administrative error and erroneous advice. Footnote 7 [ 18 ] The Minister did an investigation into the Appellant’s claims. Footnote 8 I explained the outcome of the Minister’s investigation. If the Appellant disagrees, I explained the Minister’s decision can only be appealed to the Federal Court through a process called “judicial review.” There is a deadline to apply. The Tribunal isn’t involved in that process. Conclusion [ 19 ] I find the Appellant can’t have his retirement pension payments start earlier than December 2024. The Minister paid him the earliest the law allows. [ 20 ] This means the appeal is dismissed. Footnotes Footnote 1 The Minister deemed the receipt date of the Appellant’s application to be November 2024, because of the postal strike. See GD2R-54 to 55. Return to footnote 1 [NAME] 2 See section 67(3.1) of the [NAME]. Return to footnote 2 [NAME] 3 See GD2R-10. Return to footnote 3 [NAME] 4 See section 60(6) of the [NAME] and section 43(1) of the [NAME]. Return to footnote 4 [NAME] 5 At the hearing, the Minister says the payment was processed in January 2025, but it included his December 2024 payment. Return to footnote 5 [NAME] 6 See Pincombe  v  Canada (Attorney General) , [1995] FCJ No 1320. Return to footnote 6 [NAME] 7 Section 66(4) of the [NAME] explains this rule. Return to footnote 7 [NAME] 8 See GD2R-53 to 54. Return to footnote 8 [NAME]