CPP Disability Reconsideration Request (Canada)

Request for Reconsideration — CPP Disability

Reconsideration Requested Under Section 81 Of The Canada Pension Plan · June 10, 2026

Dear Service Canada,

I request a reconsideration under section 81 of the Canada Pension Plan of the decision dated April 29, 2026 on my application for a Canada Pension Plan disability benefit. The request concerns the finding that my disability is not severe and prolonged. This letter sets out my grounds and the medical and contribution evidence I rely on.

Full name: Karen L. Whitfield
Social Insurance Number: 123-456-789
Address: 9214 111 Avenue NW, Edmonton AB T5G 0A6
Telephone: +1 (780) 555-0192
Email: karen.whitfield@email.ca

Benefit: Canada Pension Plan disability benefit
Date of the decision: April 29, 2026
Reference on the decision letter: CPP-D-2026-5527719
What is challenged: the finding that my disability is not severe and prolonged.
If the decision was communicated on its date, the 90-day period for this request runs to on or about July 28, 2026.

Under subsection 81(1) of the Canada Pension Plan, a dissatisfied applicant may request that the Minister reconsider a decision within 90 days after the day they were notified of it, or within such longer period as the Minister may allow. This request is made within that period. The reconsideration is carried out by a member of staff who was not involved in the original decision, there is no fee, and I ask that any new information in this letter and its schedule be put before the medical adjudicator.

Medical conditions, in summary: Degenerative disc disease at L4-L5 and L5-S1 with chronic radicular pain in both legs, confirmed on MRI; chronic pain syndrome; and secondary depression treated since 2024. Pain medication causes drowsiness and impaired concentration for several hours each day.
Date I last worked: August 15, 2025
Last employment and duties: Long-haul truck driver with Prairie Freight Lines for 23 years — sustained sitting for 10 to 12 hours a day, loading and securing cargo, overnight schedules.

The decision says my condition does not prevent all work. It does. I cannot sit or stand for more than 20 to 30 minutes, my medication leaves me unable to concentrate for hours each day, and at 54, with a Grade 11 education and 23 years in one occupation I can no longer perform, there is no substantially gainful work I can do regularly. My specialist says the condition is permanent and will not improve.

The decision finds that my disability is not severe and prolonged. Under paragraph 42(2)(a) of the Canada Pension Plan, a disability is severe where the person is "incapable regularly of pursuing any substantially gainful occupation", and prolonged where it is "likely to be long continued and of indefinite duration or is likely to result in death". The Federal Court of Appeal directs that the severe test be applied in a real-world context: the decision-maker must consider the actual person — age, education level, language proficiency, and past work and life experience — and ask whether an employer in the real world would employ that person regularly in any substantially gainful occupation (Villani v Canada (AG), 2001 FCA 248). The question is not whether a diagnosis appears on a list, and not whether some hypothetical light job exists in theory — it is regular capacity, in my actual circumstances, for substantially gainful work. On the facts below, that capacity does not exist.

The conditions and how they interact: The disc disease produces constant low-back pain radiating into both legs, worse with sitting, standing or lifting. The chronic pain syndrome means flare-ups arrive without warning two or three days a week and confine me to bed or a recliner. The depression — documented by my family physician since 2024 — compounds the concentration problems caused by the pain medication. None of these conditions can be assessed in isolation; together they remove any predictable working capacity.

Severe — incapable regularly of any substantially gainful occupation: I cannot sit longer than 20 to 30 minutes or stand longer than 15 to 20 minutes without changing position; I cannot lift more than five kilograms; and on flare-up days I cannot leave the house. Even a sedentary job assumes sustained sitting, sustained concentration and predictable attendance — the three things my condition removes. "Regularly" is the word the statute uses, and there is no occupation I can pursue regularly.

Prolonged — long continued and of indefinite duration: My orthopaedic specialist states the degeneration is permanent and progressive, that surgical options have been exhausted, and that no further functional improvement is expected. The condition has already lasted more than two years on a worsening course — it is long continued and of indefinite duration in exactly the statutory sense.

The real-world factors (Villani): I am 54 years old. I left school after Grade 11 and have worked a single occupation — commercial driving — for 23 years. I have no computer or office skills, and retraining for sedentary work is unrealistic against my concentration limits and unpredictable flare-ups. In the real world, no employer would take me on for regular, substantially gainful work in any occupation.

The disability is best understood through what I can and cannot do, regularly and predictably — capacity, not diagnosis, is the statutory question:
1. Sitting — Limitation: 20 to 30 minutes at most, then I must stand or lie down Effect on work: Rules out driving, desk and assembly work alike
2. Standing and walking — Limitation: 15 to 20 minutes standing; walking limited to two blocks with a cane Effect on work: Rules out retail, warehouse and service roles
3. Lifting and carrying — Limitation: Nothing over five kilograms, per my specialist Effect on work: Rules out my entire trade and any physical occupation
4. Concentration — Limitation: Opioid medication causes drowsiness and mental fog for three to four hours after each dose Effect on work: Rules out safety-sensitive and detail-dependent work
Reliability and predictability: Flare-ups confine me to bed two or three days a week with no warning. Whatever the task, I cannot promise an employer attendance on any given day — and regular, predictable attendance is the first requirement of any employment.
Treatment and side effects: I take prescribed opioid medication twice daily and a nerve-pain agent at night. The morning dose causes drowsiness and slowed thinking until early afternoon. Physiotherapy was discontinued in 2025 after it aggravated the radicular pain; my specialist has confirmed surgery is not indicated.

The following medical records support the findings asked for above, identified so the medical adjudicator can weigh them item by item:
1. MRI report, lumbar spine — Dr. S. Patel, radiologist (dated September 4, 2025) — degenerative disc disease at L4-L5 and L5-S1 with nerve-root compression
2. Orthopaedic specialist report — Dr. M. Okafor (dated February 11, 2026) — the condition is permanent and progressive; no surgical option; no expected improvement
3. Family physician chart summary — Dr. J. Côté (dated March 20, 2026) — continuous treatment since 2023, medication side effects, and the 2024 depression diagnosis
4. Functional capacity note — physiotherapy discharge (dated November 7, 2025) — sitting, standing and lifting tolerances measured, consistent with the limitations above
All listed items are enclosed with this request.
Reports requested but outstanding: An updated pain-clinic consultation is scheduled for July 2026; I ask that the file remain open for that report if the reconsideration has not been decided by then.

Contributions and the minimum qualifying period: My record of earnings shows valid contributions in every year from 2002 to 2024, including each of the last six years — the four-of-six requirement is met several times over, and with more than 25 years of contributions the three-of-six alternative applies in any event.
Attempts to work (Inclima): In October 2025 I attempted a part-time dispatcher role with my former employer, arranged as a favour: four hours a day at a desk with headset duties. I lasted nine shifts. The sitting triggered constant radicular pain, the medication fog caused routing errors, and my employer and I agreed I could not continue. A January 2026 attempt at telephone customer work from home failed within two weeks for the same reasons. Where there is evidence of some capacity, the Federal Court of Appeal asks whether efforts at obtaining and maintaining employment failed by reason of the health condition (Inclima v Canada (AG), 2003 FCA 117) — and that is exactly what these attempts show.

If the reconsideration maintains the decision in whole or in part, I intend to appeal to the Social Security Tribunal — General Division (Income Security) within 90 days of the reconsideration decision — noting that in no case may such an appeal be brought more than one year after the decision is communicated. The appeal is free, and the Tribunal looks at the claim afresh. A reconsideration decided now on the medical record scheduled with this letter remains the faster route for both parties.

Please acknowledge receipt of this request in writing and confirm the date it was received. I ask that the medical adjudicator contact me or my physicians before deciding the request if any further information would assist, and that the decision be communicated in writing with reasons. All my rights are reserved, including the right of appeal to the Social Security Tribunal.

YOURS TRULY,