The legislation provides that an appeal may be launched to the Board of Referees within thirty (30) days after the day that the decision was communicated to the appealing party. The Commission may also, for special reasons, allow an appeal to be launched outside the thirty (30) day time period.
Subsection 114(1) Employment Insurance Act
The test for an extension of time to appeal to the Board is not whether there was "good cause" for the delay in launching the appeal. Rather, the legislation allows the Commission to extend the time "for special reasons", a test which is not necessarily limited to whether there was good cause for the delay.
Cardamone v. Canada (A.G.) , May 16, 1997, F.C.J. No. 650 (F.C.A.) A-432-96
A decision by the Commission to refuse to extend the time for appealing to the Board is itself subject to an appeal to the Board. However, the legislation confers the discretionary power to extend the time for appeal to the Commission only. The Board of Referees is not entitled to substitute its opinion for that of the Commission. The Board may only interfere with the Commission's refusal to allow a late appeal where it appears that the Commission has exercised its discretion in a "non-judicial" manner, that is, on the basis of irrelevant considerations or without taking relevant considerations into account.
Nixon v. C.E.I.C., December 14, 1987, F.C.J. No. 1118 (F.C.A.) A-649-86
Canada (A.G.) v. Plourde, October 1, 1990, F.C.J. No. 944 (F.C.A.) A-80-90
Chartier v. C.E.I.C., September 13, 1990, F.C.J. No. 832 (F.C.A.) A-42-90
Canada (A.G.) v. Dyson, November 3, 1994, F.C.J. No. 1639 (F.C.A.) A-16-94
Canada (A.G.) v. Martin, June 17, 1994, F.C.J. No. 944 (F.C.A.) A-1001-92
Canada (A.G.) v. Knowler, April 20, 1994, F.C.J. No. 551 (F.C.A.) A-346-93
Carrier v. C.E.I.C., February 1, 1996, F.C.J. No. 132 (F.C.T.D.) T-370-95
The failure of the Commission to follow its general policy of notifying unsuccessful claimants of the thirty-day limitation period with respect to appeals does not create a right under the Employment Insurance Act.
Canada (A.G.) v. MacLeod, June 12, 1999, F.C.J. No. 1045 (F.C.A.) A-194-98
Where the Commission refuses an extension of time to appeal to the Board of Referees, it is not possible to obtain an order of mandamus from the Federal Court compelling it to do so. Mandamus will only be granted where there is no other remedy. Here, the proper remedy is to appeal the Commission's refusal to the Board of Referees.
Beauchemin v. C.E.I.C. [1987], 15 F.T.R. 83 (F.C.T.D.) T-621-87
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2009-04-29