- Parties: The applicant was Abasse Asgaraly. The respondent was the Attorney General of Canada. 

- Subject Matter: The applicant, self-employed in the field of travel insurance, was dismissed from a private insurance company in June 2017. He received employment insurance benefits from 2017–19. He then started KMB Consulting Inc., a business that provided business strategy and development advice in the travel insurance and medical and travel assistance industries. The COVID-19 pandemic interfered with his business. He applied for the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) for periods 2 to 15 (14 two-week periods from Oct. 11, 2020 to Apr. 24, 2021). A benefit compliance officer of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) found him ineligible for the CRB on the basis that he did not earn at least $5,000 (before taxes) of employment or net self-employment income for 2019, for 2020, or in the 12 months before the date of his first application. He sought judicial review of the CRA’s decision. 

- Ruling: The court ruled in the respondent’s favour and dismissed the judicial review application. The court reviewed the supporting documents, considered the parties’ arguments, and ultimately found the officer’s decision reasonable, given that it met the requirements of being internally coherent, transparent, justified, and intelligible. 

- Date: The hearing was set on Sept. 21, 2023. The court released its decision on Sept. 25, 2023. 

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

- Amount: The court exercised its discretion and chose to award no costs in the circumstances.