- Parties: The applicant was Pauline Milner. The respondent was the Attorney General of Canada.

- Subject Matter: The applicant applied for Canada Pension Plan disability pension benefits in 2013. Service Canada denied the application. The Social Security Tribunal’s General Division (GD) and Appeal Division (AD) refused to overturn the initial decision, which prompted the applicant to file two judicial review applications (A-16-21 and A-178-20). In A-16-21, the applicant sought to quash the AD’s decision confirming the GD’s merits decision. The applicant alleged that both SST divisions committed various errors when deciding that she was not entitled to the disability pension.

- Ruling: The appeal court ruled in the respondent’s favour and dismissed the judicial review applications without costs. First, the court determined that the AD reasonably found that the GD was entitled to consider the applicant’s volunteer work when assessing whether she retained work capacity. Second, the court held that the AD reasonably noted that the GD based its decision not only on the applicant’s volunteer involvement but also on evidence that many of her medical conditions arose after the minimum qualifying period, the absence of compelling signs of disability in her family doctor’s notes from 2003–04, and inconsistencies that raised questions about her testimony’s reliability.

- Date: The hearing was set on Oct. 24, 2023. The court released its decision on Jan. 5, 2024.

- Venue: This was a federal case before the Federal Court of Appeal.

- Amount: No financial award was specified.