Disability application Canada

[Arrelety]

So, I live in Canada and want to get on disability, and I'd like some practical advice. To my understanding, the applications need to have certain language in them, otherwise they're far more likely to get rejected. I'm sure there are a bunch of similar pitfalls, and if you know of anything like that, please send it my way. Alternatively, if you know any tips or tricks, that would also be very helpful

If you don't know anything about this, but would still like to help, I'd appreciate words of encouragement, thank you

 

[sunkacola]

Greetings @Arrelety . I cannot offer specific tips since I live in the US. I do know that here it is very difficult to get on disability and I don't know how hard it is there.

But one thing that I feel certain is the same is this: You have to really know what you are doing. Don't just get the forms and fill them out. You need legal advice from someone who knows the whole system and knows how to do things, how to word certain things, and exactly what kinds of evidence you will need to supply.

For instance, here you need to be able to prove that you cannot work at all at any kind of job, and that this has been the case for a certain period of time. If a person is still working, even part time, they will not get approved. You need doctor's reports, medical records, etc.

In the US we have "legal aid", which helps people with legal issues on a sliding scale. If you can't afford an attorney who specializes in disability claims to advise you on this, maybe there's something similar in Canada that you can find and go to them for advice. I also recommend doing a lot of research online about it, specific to Canada, and read people's posts on social media to see what you can learn.

And if you don't succeed at first, you can try again. Here, people have been known to apply 4 or 5 times over as many years before receiving it.
I hope it's not that hard in Canada, where health care is so much better and so much more accessible and affordable than it is here!

 

[Sylph]

As a fellow Canadian, I'm also interested. I have some experience with DI but for a different diagnosis. I did learn from that experience that Sunkacola's advice is spot on. Know ahead of time! Also private DI if you have it, is often easier to achieve. It usually doesn't require being so fully disabled you can't work at all, but it won't continue past the 2 year "change of definition" date. This is the date you have to prove you not only can't work at any job, but that you will never be able to work at any job for the rest of your life. This is similar to CPP disability.
If you're on your own, and have brain fog, get help. If your previous employment had a union, check with them, they often have specialists that help. There are also patient advocates in most provinces who help for free. Lastly there are companies that specialize in this, but know that they take a percentage of whatever payments you receive and CPP is not much money to begin with.
Also be aware that if you qualify for DI, you can also go back on taxes as much as 7 years, and claim the disability amount.
You will always have the option of at least one appeal, but it is easier if you don't have to!
Blessings to you friend, I'm so sorry you're at this point.

 

[Arrelety]

Thanks for the advice. I can still technically work, but my job is working ~7hrs a week for a family member, and even that's tiring. It's frustrating to be here, but mostly because the pace is so damn slow. I'm already on a waitlist for an advocate group, but I was asking because I wanted a sense of control over the process, as well as the potential ability to speed it up.

Thankfully my living situation is stable, and my partner is wonderful, they help me out so much. So at least the awful wait time isn't actively harmful. Here's hoping it all goes smoothly

 

[Natty88]

I'm in uk... we call our disability pip... they work off point system for everything like planning a journey to dressing to can you cook... it's hard as the people who do the assessments have been known to lie..they try trick you into saying things you can't do and end up saying you can do it when you cant!!! it's really hard as well.... best of luck I'm also trying to get disability to..