Navigating the CPP Disability Application Form

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May 20, 2016 by dccinc

With the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) disability benefits program coming under increasing budgetary and legislative pressure it’s never been more important to ensure that your CPP disability benefits application form is properly filled out and accompanied by strong and appropriate supporting materials that will bolster your case. In this post we’ll provide you with a comprehensive look at the most important aspects of the CPP Disability Application form itself as well as the other documents you’ll need to support it.

Ensure the CPP Disability Application Form is Done Right

You can obtain a disability application form through the CPP website or by calling 1-800-277-9914. The total application package is composed of the following forms and documents:

  • The CPP Disability Application Form Itself – This form will ask for personal information about you as well as any dependent children who are either under the age of 18 or between 18 and 25 and enrolled as full time students.
  • The Questionnaire for Disability Benefits – The majority of questions posed on this form are designed to give you an opportunity to describe the extent and fundamental nature of your disability.
  • The Consent for Medical Evaluation Form – Also known by its full name The Authorization to Disclose Information – Consent for Medical Evaluation, this form gives CPP the right to obtain medical, work and educational information about you.
  • A Full Medical Report – This should be filled out by the doctor that has been providing you primary care for your disability; even if that is not your everyday physician.
  • Child-Rearing Form – This form is for those who needed to withdraw from the workforce and could not make CPP contributions due to their child-rearing responsibilities.

Below we provide more information on the particular forms.

The Questionnaire for CPP Disability Benefits

The more comprehensive your answers to the questions posed on this form the better. The following are some questions of particular importance.

  • Question 5: The Date you stopped working – This date is used to calculate the first day you became eligible to receive CPP disability benefits. You’ll also need to explain the role your disability played in your decision to stop working. Find out more with our disability tax credit calculator guide.
  • Question 18: Nature of your impairment – It’s crucial that you respond to this question thoroughly and that your explanation dovetails with the description of your condition as explained by your doctor.
  • Question 20: Other health-related conditions – You are allowed to argue that it is the cumulative effect of the primary disability and other impairments that makes it impossible for you to work. So go into detail about any other conditions you may have.
  • Questions 23-25: Who has been treating you? – Name the various medical practitioners you’ve seen over the years while seeking relief from your disability. Include hospital stays related to your disability and try to remember everyone.
  • Questions 26-29: Medications – List all medications as well as any other treatments you are taking or undergoing now or which you have taken or undergone in the past for your disability. Make sure to list any assistive devices you require.

The Medical Report

It’s important to speak to the physician who is most familiar with your disability and ask them if they will help with your CPP disability application form. Still, you’ll likely have more than 1 choice when it comes to picking a doctor to support your application:

  • Your doctor (GP) – Your GP is likely the physician that knows you best and that would include being most familiar with your disability. The GP would also be best suited to provide supporting information on other impairments you have that affect your ability to work.
  • A Specialist – A special has several advantages over a GP in that they can attest to nuances of your condition that a GP may not be qualified to provide an opinion on. The medical adjudicators at CPP may also be inclined to give more weight to the opinion of a specialist.

Supporting Documents

You are allowed to submit other documentation along with the forms provided by the CPP. Examples of these would include letters from doctors or specialists, an assessment by a company doctor, records of hospital stays or anything else that supports your cause. Just make sure none of them contradict the notion that you are not able to work.

Submit Your Application Package

Before you submit your CPP disability application form package make sure you:

  • Include all required birth evidence.
  • Affix your signature and date everywhere they are required.
  • Double check to make sure all documents you want to be included are included.
  • Put your SIN number on each and every page (that includes the Medical Report and supporting documents).

For assistance compiling and submitting your CPP disability application form, contact the benefits professionals at Disability Credit Canada. We’ll help ensure that your application will never be turned down because of clerical or documentation errors. In these days of CPP’s more restrictive attitude having experience on your side can make all the difference.

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