Pension Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. P-6)

Pensions for Disabilities

Marginal note:Pension in accordance with extent of disability

• 35 (1) Subject to section 21, the amount of pensions for disabilities shall, except as provided in subsection (3), be determined in accordance with the assessment of the extent of the disability resulting from injury or disease or the aggravation thereof, as the case may be, of the applicant or pensioner.

• Marginal note:Maximum disability assessment

  (1.1) Despite anything in this Act, if the extent of disability of a member of the forces, in respect of the aggregate of all of the member’s disability assessments, exceeds 100%, no pension shall be paid in respect of any percentage points exceeding 100%.

• Marginal note:Veterans Well-being Act

  (1.2) Any disability assessments under the Veterans Well-being Act, in respect of a disability award or pain and suffering compensation, shall be taken into account for the purpose of determining whether the extent of disability exceeds 100%.

• Marginal note:How extent of disability assessed

  (2) The assessment of the extent of a disability shall be based on the instructions and a table of disabilities to be made by the Minister for the guidance of persons making those assessments.

• Marginal note:Statutory Instruments Act does not apply

  (2.01) The instructions and table of disabilities referred to in subsection (2) are exempt from the application of sections 3, 5 and 11 of the Statutory Instruments Act.

• Marginal note:Limitation on reduction

  (2.1) Where a member of the forces has attained the age of fifty-five years and the assessment of the extent of a disability of the member has remained unchanged for a period of three years or more, no reduction in the assessment of the extent of that disability shall be made.

• Marginal note:Pulmonary tuberculosis

  (3) Pensions for disability resulting from pulmonary tuberculosis, where during the treatment of a member of the forces the presence of tubercle bacilli has been discovered in the sputum or it has been proved that the disease is moderately advanced and clinically active, shall be awarded and continued as follows:

  • (a) in the case of a member of the forces who served in a theatre of actual war and whose disease was attributable to or was incurred or was aggravated during service, either during World War I or World War II, and in the case of a member of the forces who did not serve in a theatre of actual war and whose disease was incurred during service during either of those Wars, a pension of one hundred per cent shall be awarded as of the date of completion of the treatment and shall be continued without reduction for a period of two years, unless further treatment is required;

  • (b) in the case of a member of the forces who did not serve in a theatre of actual war and whose disease was aggravated during service, either during World War I or World War II, a pension of ninety per cent shall be awarded as of the date of completion of the treatment and shall be continued without reduction for a period of two years, unless further treatment is required;

  • (c) in the case of a member of the forces who has seen service in the non-permanent active militia or in the reserve army during World War II or in the case of a member of the forces who has seen service in peace time, whose disease occurred on service and arose out of or was directly connected with that service, a pension of one hundred per cent shall be awarded as of the date of completion of the treatment and shall be continued without reduction for a period of two years, unless further treatment is required;

  • (d) in the case of a member of the forces who has seen service in the non-permanent active militia or in the reserve army during World War II or in the case of a member of the forces who has seen service in peace time, whose disease was aggravated during service and the aggravation arose out of or was directly connected with that service, a pension of ninety per cent shall be awarded as from the date of completion of the treatment and shall be continued without reduction for a period of two years, unless further treatment is required; and

  • (e) after the expiration of two years, no pension awarded in respect of pulmonary tuberculosis shall be reduced by more than twenty per cent at any one time, nor shall reductions be made at intervals of less than six months, and paragraphs (b) and (d) do not apply if the disease manifested itself within a period of three months after enlistment.

• Marginal note:When no deduction from pension

  (4) No deduction shall be made from the pension of any member of the forces because the member undertook work or perfected themself in some form of industry.

Marginal note:Additional pension for loss of paired organ or limb

36 Where a member of the forces who is in receipt of a pension on account of the loss of, or permanent loss of the use of, one of the paired organs or limbs of the member’s body suffers, either before or after that loss or loss of use, the loss of, permanent loss of the use of or impairment of the pair of that organ or limb from any cause whatever, an additional pension shall, on application, be awarded to that member in an amount equal to fifty per cent of the pension that would have been awarded to the member if the loss of, permanent loss of the use of or impairment of that organ or limb had occurred in circumstances in which a pension would have been payable under section 21.

• 37 (1) [Repealed, 1990, c. 43, s. 14]

• Marginal note:Permanent pension for disability

  (2) Permanent pensions for disability shall be awarded, or pensions for disability shall be continued permanently, whenever the disability is, or becomes, apparently permanent in extent, but if it subsequently appears that the disability has changed in extent, the pension shall be adjusted accordingly.

• (3) [Repealed, 1990, c. 43, s. 14]

• Marginal note:Restoration to pension

  (4) Any pensioner who has accepted a final payment under any provisions previously contained in this Act but now repealed may, if it is found on examination that his or her pensionable disability has persisted or increased, be restored to pension in respect thereof as of the date on which the amount of the final payment received by the pensioner is or was equal to the sum of the instalments of pension that the pensioner would have received if, instead of accepting a final payment, he or she had continued to receive pension at the rate in force immediately before the final payment was made, or as of six months prior to the date of the examination, whichever is the later date.

Marginal note:Attendance allowance

• 38 (1) A member of the forces who has been awarded a pension or compensation or both, is totally disabled, whether by reason of military service or not, and is in need of attendance shall, on application, in addition to the pension or compensation, or pension and compensation, be awarded an attendance allowance at a rate determined by the Minister in accordance with the minimum and maximum rates set out in Schedule III.

• (2) [Repealed, 2017, c. 20, s. 290]

• Marginal note:Payment of allowance on death of member

  (3) Where a member of the forces who is in receipt of an attendance allowance under subsection (1) dies while residing with the spouse or common-law partner or a child of the member and

  • (a) the member was a person to whom an additional pension was, at the time of death, payable in respect of the spouse, common-law partner or child, or

  • (b) the pension awarded to the member was a final payment,

  the attendance allowance shall continue to be paid for a period of one year commencing on the first day of the month following the month of death to the survivor, if living, or, if not living, equally to any of the member’s children otherwise pensionable under this Act.

• Marginal note:Wear and tear of clothing on account of amputation

  (4) A member of the forces who is in receipt of a pension on account of an amputation of the leg at or above a Symes’ amputation is entitled to the allowance set out in Schedule III on account of wear and tear of clothing in respect of each such amputation.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (5) A member of the forces who is in receipt of a pension on account of an amputation of the arm at or above the wrist is entitled to the allowance set out in Schedule III on account of wear and tear of clothing in respect of each such amputation.

• Marginal note:Wear and tear of clothing on account of two amputations

  (6) A member of the forces who is in receipt of a pension on account of two amputations of a kind described in subsection (4) or (5) is, in addition to the allowances to which that member is entitled under that subsection, entitled in respect of the second amputation to an allowance on account of wear and tear of clothing equal to fifty per cent of the allowance referred to in that subsection.

• Marginal note:Wear and tear on account of other disabilities

  (7) A member of the forces who is in receipt of a pension for a disability other than a disability described in subsection (4) or (5) that causes wear and tear of clothing may be granted an allowance on account of wear and tear of clothing not exceeding the allowance set out in Schedule III.

• Marginal note:Specially made wearing apparel

  (8) A member of the forces who is in receipt of a pension for any disability that requires the wearing of specially made apparel is entitled, in addition to any other allowance to which the member is entitled under this section, to the allowance set out in Schedule III on account of the purchase of such apparel.

Marginal note:Date from which disability pension payable

• 39 (1) A pension awarded for disability shall be made payable from the later of

  • (a) the day on which application therefor was first made, and

  • (b) a day three years prior to the day on which the pension was awarded to the pensioner.

• Marginal note:Additional award

  (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), where a pension is awarded for a disability and the Minister or, in the case of a review or an appeal under the Veterans Review and Appeal Board Act, the Veterans Review and Appeal Board is of the opinion that the pension should be awarded from a day earlier than the day prescribed by subsection (1) by reason of delays in securing service or other records or other administrative difficulties beyond the control of the applicant, the Minister or Veterans Review and Appeal Board may make an additional award to the pensioner in an amount not exceeding an amount equal to two years pension.

Marginal note:Refusing to undergo medical or surgical treatment

• 40 (1) Where an applicant or pensioner should undergo medical or surgical treatment and the applicant or pensioner unreasonably refuses to undergo that treatment, the Minister may reduce, by not more than one half, the pension to which the extent of the applicant’s or pensioner’s disability would otherwise have entitled the applicant or pensioner.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a refusal to undergo a major surgical operation.

Marginal note:Administration of awards

• 41 (1) Where it appears to the Minister that a person to whom an award is payable is

  • (a) by reason of infirmity, illness or other cause, incapable of managing their own affairs, or

  • (b) not maintaining an individual in respect of whom additional pension is payable in accordance with Schedule I,

  the Minister may direct that the award payable to that person be administered for the benefit of that person or any individual in respect of whom additional pension is payable in accordance with Schedule I, or both, by the Department or a person or agency selected by the Minister.

• Marginal note:Payment of portion of pension to other person

  (2) Where a pensioner is in receipt of a pension paid at a rate set out in one of classes seventeen to twenty of Schedule I, the Minister may, at the request of the pensioner, pay to any person in respect of whom additional pension is payable in accordance with Schedule I, without further inquiry as to whether the pensioner is maintaining that person, a portion of the pension not exceeding twice the amount of the additional pension payable in respect of that person.