Case information

Charter of Rights — Right to equality — Whether the $5,000 income thresholds for both the Canada Emergency Response Benefit and the Canadian Recovery Benefit breached s. 15(1) of the Charter — How much deference are governments owed under s. 1 of the Charter during an emergency, without immunizing them from Charter scrutiny? — Should governments that wish to negate rights, as opposed to limiting them, be required to invoke s. 33 of the Charter? — Can courts apply the s. 1 R. v. Oakes analysis without first correctly characterizing the legislative objective of the challenged provision? — Does an undeclared public health emergency justify the federal government’s complete failure to accommodate disabled Canadian workers? — What remedies are available? — Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, ss. 1 and 15(1).

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

The applicant lives with a disability and is a recipient of the Canada Pension Plan Disability Benefit (“CPP-D”). As a result of her disability-related limitations, the applicant could only work part-time hours and was unable to meet the $5,000 income threshold for Canada Emergency Response Benefit (“CERB”) and the Canadian Recovery Benefit (“CRB”). The applicant challenged the income threshold and the exclusion of CPP-D payments from eligible income sources, alleging a violation of her equality rights under s. 15(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The applicant’s application was dismissed. The Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant’s appeal.