Disability pension: the social and occupational context must be considered in certain cases

The context

• A person considered that she was unfit for work because of her physical condition. As she saw it, her condition prevented her from going back to being a restaurant waitress and from holding down any job. 
• She contacted Retraite Québec about a disability pension, but her application was refused.

The complaint

The person felt that she had the right to this financial assistance. She complained to the Québec Ombudsman.

What the investigation showed

• Several physicians had issued medical opinions. They considered that the person’s physical and cognitive abilities were limited because of serious health problems.
• When Retraite Québec analyzes such applications, it must consider various elements before deciding. These pre-defined elements include factors related to the applicant’s social and occupational situation. However, in the case at hand, the agency had not considered some of these factors. For example, the person had very little schooling, was elderly and had limited work experience. Moreover, she had been unemployed for several years because of her physical condition.

The outcome

The Québec Ombudsman recommended that Retraite Québec analyze the file again. After this second assessment, and given the person’s situation, Retraite Québec revised its decision. The applicant obtained a disability pension of $700 a month and a retroactive amount of some $31,000.

This case was taken from our 2020-2021 Annual Report.