Pension Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. P-6)

Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Pension Act.

Construction

Marginal note:Construction

2 The provisions of this Act shall be liberally construed and interpreted to the end that the recognized obligation of the people and Government of Canada to provide compensation to those members of the forces who have been disabled or have died as a result of military service, and to their dependants, may be fulfilled.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

• 3 (1) In this Act,

  appearance of the injury or disease

  appearance of the injury or disease[Repealed, 1990, c. 43, s. 3]

  applicant

  applicant means a person who has applied for an award or for an increase in an award; (demandeur)

  application

  application means an application for an award; (demande)

  award

  award means a pension, compensation, an allowance or a bonus payable under this Act; (compensation)

  Bureau

  Bureau[Repealed, 1995, c. 18, s. 46]

  Canadian Forces

  Canadian Forces means the armed forces referred to in section 14 of the National Defence Act, and includes any predecessor naval, army or air forces of Canada or Newfoundland; (Forces canadiennes)

  Chief Pensions Advocate

  Chief Pensions Advocate[Repealed, 1995, c. 18, s. 46]

  child

  child, in relation to a member of the forces or a prisoner of war, includes

  • (a) an adopted child or foster child of that member or prisoner, and

  • (b) a child, adopted child or foster child of the spouse or common-law partner of that member or prisoner; (enfant)

  Commission

  Commission[Repealed, 1995, c. 18, s. 46]

  commissioner

  commissioner[Repealed, 1995, c. 18, s. 46]

  common-law partner

  common-law partner, in relation to an individual, means a person who is cohabiting with the individual at the relevant time in a conjugal relationship, having so cohabited for a period of at least one year. For greater certainty,

  • (a) in the case of an individual’s death, the relevant time means the time of that death; and

  • (b) common-law partners cease to be common-law partners when they cease to cohabit; (conjoint de fait)

  compensation

  compensation means compensation payable under this Act on account of time spent by a former prisoner of war in enemy captivity or in evading or escaping from enemy captivity; (indemnité)

  Department

  Department means the Department of Veterans Affairs; (ministère)

  dependent condition

  dependent condition, with respect to a person, means the condition of being without sufficient income or assets, other than the premises in which the person resides, to maintain that person; (état de dépendance)

  died

  died or death includes death presumed for official purposes; (décédé ou décès)

  disability

  disability means the loss or lessening of the power to will and to do any normal mental or physical act; (invalidité)

  Entitlement Board

  Entitlement Board[Repealed, 1995, c. 18, s. 46]

  Examiner

  Examiner[Repealed, 1995, c. 18, s. 46]

  improper conduct

  improper conduct includes wilful disobedience of orders, vicious or criminal conduct and wilful self-inflicted wounding — except if the wound results from the receipt of medical assistance in dying and the requirement set out in paragraph 241.2(3)(a) of the Criminal Code has been met; (mauvaise conduite)

  Korean War

  Korean War means the military operations undertaken by the United Nations to restore peace in the Republic of Korea, and the period denoted by the term Korean War is the period from June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953, inclusive; (guerre de Corée)

  medical assistance in dying

  medical assistance in dying has the same meaning as in section 241.1 of the Criminal Code; (aide médicale à mourir)

  member of the forces

  member of the forces means

  • (a) a person who has served in the Canadian Forces at any time since the commencement of World War I, and

  • (b) a Canadian merchant mariner of World War I, World War II or the Korean War, as described in section 21.1; (membre des forces)

  military service

  military service or service means service as a member of the forces; (service militaire ou service)

  Minister

  Minister means the Minister of Veterans Affairs or such other Minister as is designated by the Governor in Council; (ministre)

  pension

  pension means a pension payable under this Act on account of the death or disability of a member of the forces, including a final payment referred to in Schedule I; (pension)

  Pension Review Board

  Pension Review Board[Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 20 (3rd Supp.), s. 21]

  pensioner

  pensioner means a person who has been awarded a pension; (pensionné)

  personal information

  personal information has the same meaning as in section 3 of the Privacy Act; (renseignements personnels)

  prisoner of war

  prisoner of war has the meaning assigned to that expression by section 71.1; (prisonnier de guerre)

  service in a special duty area

  service in a special duty area[Repealed, 2003, c. 12, s. 1]

  service in a theatre of actual war

  service in a theatre of actual war means

  • (a) any service as a member of the army or air force of Canada in the period commencing August 14, 1914 and ending November 11, 1918 in the zone of the allied armies on the continent of Europe, Asia or Africa, or in any other place at which the member has sustained injury or contracted disease directly by a hostile act of the enemy,

  • (b) any service as a member of the naval forces or merchant navy of Canada in the period described in paragraph (a) on the high seas or wherever contact has been made with hostile forces of the enemy, or in any other place at which the member has sustained injury or contracted disease directly by a hostile act of the enemy, and

  • (c) any service as a member of the forces in the period commencing September 1, 1939 and ending

    • (i) May 9, 1945, where the service was in any place outside Canada, and

    • (ii) August 15, 1945, where the service was in the Pacific Ocean or Asia,

    or in any place in Canada at which the member has sustained injury or contracted disease directly by a hostile act of the enemy; (service sur un théâtre réel de guerre)

  service in the Korean War

  service in the Korean War means

  • (a) in the case of a member of the Canadian Forces, any service from the day of the member’s departure from Canada or the United States, including Alaska, to participate in the Korean War, until the earliest of

    • (i) the day on which the member next returned to Canada or the United States, including Alaska,

    • (ii) the day on which the member was next posted to a unit that was not participating in the Korean War,

    • (iii) the day on which the unit with which the member was serving, having ceased to participate in the Korean War, arrived at the place to which it had been next assigned, and

    • (iv) October 31, 1953, and

  • (b) in the case of a Canadian merchant mariner of the Korean War as described in subsection 21.1(5), any service during a period described in paragraph 21.1(2)(b); (service accompli pendant la guerre de Corée)

  special duty service

  special duty service has the same meaning as in subsection 2(1) of the Veterans Well-being Act; (service spécial)

  special force

  special force means the Canadian Army Special Force that was constituted for the purposes of the Korean War; (contingent spécial)

  surviving common-law partner

  surviving common-law partner, in relation to an individual, does not include, for greater certainty, a person who, at the time of the individual’s death, was a former common-law partner of that individual; (conjoint de fait survivant)

  surviving spouse

  surviving spouse, in relation to an individual, does not include, for greater certainty, a person who, at the time of the individual’s death, was a former spouse of that individual; (époux survivant)

  survivor

  survivor, in relation to an individual, means the surviving spouse or surviving common-law partner of that individual; (survivant)

  treatment allowance

  treatment allowance[Repealed, 2000, c. 34, s. 20]

  Veterans Review and Appeal Board

  Veterans Review and Appeal Board means the Veterans Review and Appeal Board established by section 4 of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board Act; (Tribunal)

  widowed mother

  widowed mother[Repealed, 2000, c. 12, s. 211]

  World War I

  World War I means the war waged by the German Emperor and His Allies against His Majesty and His Majesty’s Allies, and the period denoted by the term World War I is the period between August 4, 1914 and August 31, 1921, both dates inclusive; (Première Guerre mondiale)

  World War II

  World War II means the war waged by His Majesty and His Majesty’s Allies against Germany and Germany’s Allies, and the period denoted by the term World War II is the period between September 1, 1939 and April 1, 1947, both dates inclusive. (Seconde Guerre mondiale)

• Marginal note:Persons deemed members of forces

  (2) A British subject resident and domiciled in Newfoundland at the time of enlistment who served in the naval, army or air forces of His Majesty or in any of the naval, army or air forces of the countries allied with His Majesty during World War II shall be deemed to be a member of the forces for the purposes of section 21 if the disability or death in respect of which the application is made is not otherwise pensionable under that section or sections 64 to 66.

• Marginal note:Couples deemed to be living together

  (3) A member of the forces and the member’s spouse or common-law partner or survivor shall be deemed to be or to have been living together for the purposes of this Act where it is established that the member and the spouse or common-law partner are not, or the member and the survivor were not, living together by reason only of injury or disease, circumstances of a temporary nature or other circumstances not attributable to the member or the spouse or common-law partner or survivor.

• Marginal note:Deeming — medical assistance in dying

  (4) For the purposes of this Act, if a member of the forces receives medical assistance in dying, that member is deemed to have died as a result of the illness, disease or disability for which they were determined to be eligible to receive that assistance, in accordance with paragraph 241.2(3)(a) of the Criminal Code.

Veterans Well-being Act

Marginal note:No award payable

• 3.1 (1) Despite any other provision of this Act, no award is payable under this Act in respect of any application made by or in respect of a member of the forces after April 1, 2006 unless

  • (a) the application is in respect of a disability for which a pension has been granted or is an application under section 36 in respect of such a disability;

  • (b) the application is in respect of the death of a member of the forces, if the death occurred before April 1, 2006 or is the result of an injury or a disease, or the aggravation of an injury or a disease, for which a pension has been granted;

  • (c) the application is in respect of an injury or a disease that was attributable to or was incurred during, or arose out of or was directly connected to, service in the Canadian Forces on or before April 1, 1947, or was attributable to or was incurred during service in the Korean War or is an application under subsection 21(5) in respect of such an injury or a disease;

  • (d) the application is in respect of an aggravation of an injury or disease, if the aggravation was attributable to or was incurred during, or arose out of or was directly connected to, service in the Canadian Forces on or before April 1, 1947 or was attributable to or was incurred during service in the Korean War or is an application under subsection 21(5) in respect of such an aggravation;

  • (e) the Minister has determined under the Veterans Well-being Act that the injury or disease, or the aggravation of the injury or disease, for which the application is made is inseparable — for the purpose of assessing the extent of disability — from an injury or a disease, or the aggravation of an injury or a disease, for which a pension has been granted; or

  • (f) the application is made under section 38 by a pensioner.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of an application for compensation made under Part III.1 if the application relates to a period spent as a prisoner of war that began before April 1, 2006.