CPP Overpayments Remission Order

Summary#

The federal government made the Canada Pension Plan Disability Pension, Post-retirement Disability Benefit, Disabled Contributor’s Child’s Benefit and Retirement Pension Overpayments Remission Order (SI/2024-66). It cancels certain CPP overpayments that built up because reassessments were delayed, at an estimated cost of $98.6 million to the CPP Account.

What it does#

• Remits (forgives) overpayments of the Canada Pension Plan Disability Pension and the Post‑retirement Disability Benefit where all these timing and conduct conditions are met:
  • the department had information before July 1, 2022 suggesting a reassessment was needed for a period before January 1, 2021;
  • the department did not notify the person of a reassessment decision before November 1, 2023;
  • the department sent a decision saying the benefit had ceased between November 1, 2023 and March 31, 2025; and
  • the overpayment was not caused by fraud or knowingly false information.
• The amount forgiven equals the total benefit payments received after the month the benefit was later determined to have ceased.
• Also remits overpayments of the Disabled Contributor’s Child’s Benefit that result from the above disability-benefit cessations.
• Also remits any excess Retirement Pension payments that arose because a disability pension was retroactively ceased and the retirement amount had to be recalculated.
• If an appeal or court decision changes the cease date to an earlier month, the larger overpayment that results will also be covered by this order.
• The remission does not automatically cancel any CPP contributions that were refunded to recipients while they were receiving disability benefits; those refunded contributions may still need to be repaid and can affect future CPP entitlements.

Who's affected#

• People who got a CPP Disability Pension or Post‑retirement Disability Benefit and were later told (between November 1, 2023 and March 31, 2025) that the benefit should have stopped earlier, where the department had received relevant information before July 1, 2022 about a pre‑January 1, 2021 period.
• Children who received the Disabled Contributor’s Child’s Benefit because of such a parent’s disability benefit are also covered.
• People whose Retirement Pension payments ended up higher because of a later reassessment of a past disability pension.
• This applies only to people who meet the specific timing and conduct conditions listed above. If those conditions don’t match a person’s situation, it is unclear from the order whether they are covered.

Why it matters#

• It relieves potentially large debts for people with disabilities and their families that arose largely because government reassessments were delayed during and after the COVID‑19 period.
• It prevents some vulnerable people from having to repay benefits for periods where the department was slow to act.
• The cost of forgiving these debts — $98.6 million — will be paid from the CPP Account, which affects the plan’s finances rather than general government funds.
• People covered by the order should still check whether they must repay any refunded CPP contributions, because those repayments can affect eligibility and amounts for future CPP benefits.