Tribunal Denies Claimant’s Request for Extended Time to Appeal

OUTCOME: Refused

[TRANSLATION] Citation: AT  v  Canada Employment Insurance Commission , 2026  [NAME]  311 Social Security Tribunal of Canada Appeal Division Extension of Time Decision Applicant: [redacted] Respondent: [redacted] Decision under appeal: General Division decision dated February 26, 2026 (GE-26-189) Tribunal member: [NAME] date: April 24, 2026 File number: AD-26-330 On this page Decision Overview Issues Analysis Conclusion Decision [ 1 ] An extension of time to apply to the Appeal Division is refused. The application won’t go ahead. Overview [ 2 ] The Applicant ([APPELLANT]) filed a reconsideration request late. So, he had to ask the Respondent (Commission) for an extension of time. It refused to give him an extension of time. [ 3 ] The [APPELLANT] disagreed and appealed to the Tribunal’s General Division. [ 4 ] On February 26, 2026, the General Division found that the Commission had used its discretion judicially when it refused to extend the 30-day time limit to ask for reconsideration of a decision. [ 5 ] The [APPELLANT] filed his application for permission to appeal to the Appeal Division on April 16, 2026. He argues that because there was no clear evidence of when the initial decision was communicated, it was unreasonable to find that his reconsideration request was late. He also argues that the General Division didn’t consider his notice of debt for $1,019. It led him to believe that his file had been settled. Issues [ 6 ] The issues are the following: a) Was the application to the Appeal Division late? b) Should I extend the time for filing the application? Analysis The application was late [ 7 ] The General Division decision was communicated to the Claimant by email on February 27, 2026. The decision letter said that the [APPELLANT] had 30 days to appeal the General Division decision and explained how to do that. He didn’t file his application for permission to appeal until April 16, 2026. I am not extending the time to file the application [ 8 ] When deciding whether to extend the time to file the application, I have to consider whether the Claimant has a reasonable explanation for why his application was late. Footnote 1 [ 9 ] To justify why it was late, the [APPELLANT] argues that he didn’t fully understand the appeal procedures and that he had to contact the Tribunal to get information on the steps to take. As soon as he understood what he needed to do, he acted quickly to file his application. [ 10 ] I note that the Claimant didn’t contact the Tribunal until April 2, 2026. That was after the 30-day time limit. The information letter clearly said that he had 30 days to file his form. After he was told about the procedures, he still filed his application to the Appeal Division late. He waited until April 16, 2026. That was two weeks later. [ 11 ] The Claimant could not ignore the importance of acting within the time limits, since the Commission had already refused his reconsideration request for being late. [ 12 ] Unfortunately for the Claimant, he didn’t give a reasonable explanation to justify why his application for permission to appeal to the Appeal Division was late. Conclusion [ 13 ] I am not giving the Claimant an extension of time to apply to the Appeal Division. This means that the application won’t go ahead. Footnotes Footnote 1 See section 27(2) of the Social Security Tribunal Rules of Procedure. Return to footnote 1 referrer