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Date: 20251023 |
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Docket: 25-T-143 |
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Ottawa, Ontario, October 23, 2025 |
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PRESENT: The Honourable Madam Justice Heneghan |
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BETWEEN: |
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LUDMEL URDANETA DE RAMIREZ |
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Applicant |
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and |
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Attorney General Of Canada |
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Respondent |
REASONS AND ORDER
[1] Ms. Ludmel Urdaneta De Ramirez (the “Applicant”
) filed a notice of motion, pursuant to the Federal Courts Rules SOR/98-106 (the “Rules”
) seeking an extension of time within which to begin an application for judicial review of a decision of the Canada Revenue Agency (the “CRA”
). In that decision, the CRA determined that the Applicant is not eligible for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (the “CERB”
) and the Canada Recovery Benefit (the “CRB”
).
[2] The Applicant named the CRA as the “respondent”. Pursuant to Rule 303(2) of the Rules, the correct Respondent is the Attorney General of Canada. The style of cause is hereby amended with immediate effect to reflect the correction.
[3] The Applicant filed her own affidavit, affirmed on September 11, 2025. The following details are taken from her notice of motion and her supporting affidavit.
[4] The Respondent did not file an affidavit or responding submissions.
[5] The Applicant deposed that she received two letters from the CRA, the first dated February 3, 2023, and the second dated July 2, 2025, addressing her eligibility for Canada Emergency, Recovery and Worker Benefits. Copies of the two letters were attached as exhibits to the Applicant’s affidavit. These letters are described by the CRA as its “decisions”
.
[6] In the letter of February 3, 2023, the CRA advised that the Applicant was not eligible for the CERB on the grounds that she had not earned at least $5000.00 before taxes in employment or self-employment income in 2019 or in the 12 months preceding the date of her first application.
[7] In the letter of July 2, 2025, the CRA advised that following a second review of her application, it was determined that the Applicant was not eligible for the CERB or for the CRB. The CRA again advised that the Applicant was ineligible for the CERB because she had not met the minimum statutory earnings from employment or self-employment in 2019 or in the 12 months before her first application. It also advised that the Applicant was ineligible for the CERB because she had not stopped working or had her employment hours reduced for reasons related to Covid-19.
[8] In the letter of July 2, 2025, the CRA also advised that the Applicant was ineligible for the CRB because she had not earned at least $5000.00 from employment or self-employment in 2019, 2020 or in the last 12 months before applying for this benefit.
[9] According to her notice of motion, the Applicant only became aware of these letters “recently”
before she submitted her request for an extension of time to commence an application for judicial review.
[10] In her notice of motion, the Applicant refers to a conversation with an employee of the CRA on or about August 27, 2025, inquiring about the next steps available to her.
[11] In her affidavit, the Applicant deposed as to her attendance at the registry of the Federal Court in Montreal on September 2, 2025, where she was advised that because she was beyond the thirty-day period to commence an application for judicial review, she would need to file a notice of motion for an extension of time.
[12] The Applicant deposed in her affidavit that she was unable to work during the Covid-19 pandemic because she was looking after her father who suffered from a serious illness. She deposed that she began this caretaking in November 2018; her father died on June 5, 2020.
[13] The Applicant further deposed that she received the CERB from July 2020 until September 2020, and that she received the CRB from October 2020 until June 2021.
[14] The Applicant also deposed in her affidavit as to monies that she had received from her former employer on January 9, 2019, which funds were deposited in her Registered Retirement Savings Plan (“RRSP”
).
[15] As well the Applicant deposed as to her receipt of Employment Insurance and Employment Insurance compassionate care benefits before she applied for the CERB and CRB.
[16] By a letter dated September 19, 2025, Counsel for the Attorney General of Canada advised that the Applicant’s motion would not be opposed. However, Counsel highlighted the finding of the CRA about the ineligibility of the Applicant, that is the fact that the Applicant did not stop working or suffer reduced working hours for reasons related to Covid-19.
[17] Counsel also referred to paragraph 8 of the Applicant’s affidavit where she deposed that she was unable to work because she was looking after her ill father.
[18] The test for an extension of time to commence a proceeding is addressed by the Federal Court of Appeal in its decision in (Attorney General) v. Hennelly (1999), 244 N.R.399 (F.C.A.). The test requires proof of a continuing intention to pursue a proceeding, a reasonable explanation for the delay in beginning the proceeding, some merit in the proposed proceeding and a lack of prejudice to the opposite party.
[19] The determination of eligibility for the CERB and CRB is essentially a fact-driven exercise, requiring an applicant to show satisfaction of the statutory criteria.
[20] The Canada Emergency Response Benefit Act, S.C. 2020, c. 5, s. 8 (the “CERB Act”
) governs the CERB benefit. Section 2 and subsections 5(1) and (2) are relevant and provide as follows:
2 The following definitions apply in this Act.
…
worker means a person who is at least 15 years of age, who is resident in Canada and who, for 2019 or in the 12- month period preceding the day on which they make an application under section 5, has a total income of at least $5,000 — or, if another amount is fixed by regulation, of at least that amount — from the following sources:
(a) employment;
(b) self-employment;
(c) benefits paid to the person under any of subsections 22(1), 23(1), 152.04(1) and 152.05(1) of the Employment Insurance Act; and
(d) allowances, money or other benefits paid to the person under a provincial plan because of pregnancy or in respect of the care by the person of one or more of their new-born children or one or more children placed with them for the purpose of adoption. (travailleur)
5 (1) A worker may, in the form and manner established by the Minister, apply for an income support payment for any four-week period falling within the period beginning on March 15, 2020 and ending on October 3, 2020.
(2) No worker is permitted to file an application after December 2, 2020.
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2 Les définitions qui suivent s’appliquent à la présente loi.
…
travailleur Personne âgée d’au moins quinze ans qui réside au Canada et dont les revenus — pour l’année 2019 ou au cours des douze mois précédant la date à laquelle elle présente une demande en vertu de l’article 5 — provenant des sources ci-après s’élèvent à au moins cinq mille dollars ou, si un autre montant est fixé par règlement, ce montant : a) un emploi; b) un travail qu’elle exécute pour son compte; c) des prestations qui lui sont payées au titre de l’un des paragraphes 22(1), 23(1), 152.04(1) et 152.05(1) de la Loi sur l’assurance-emploi; d) des allocations, prestations ou autres sommes qui lui sont payées, en vertu d’un régime provincial, en cas de grossesse ou de soins à donner par elle à son ou ses nouveau-nés ou à un ou plusieurs enfants placés chez elle en vue de leur adoption. (worker)
5 (1) Tout travailleur peut, selon les modalités — notamment de forme — fixées par le ministre, demander une allocation de soutien du revenu pour toute période de quatre semaines comprise dans la période commençant le 15 mars 2020 et se terminant le 3 octobre 2020.
(2) Aucune demande ne peut être présentée après le 2 décembre 2020.
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[21] The CRB benefit is governed by the Canada Recovery Benefit Act S.C.2020, c. 12, s. 2 (the “CRB Act”
). Paragraph 3(1)(d) is relevant and provides as follows:
3 (1) A person is eligible for a Canada recovery benefit for any two-week period falling within the period beginning on September 27, 2020 and ending on October 23, 2021 if
(d) in the case of an application made under section 4 in respect of a two-week period beginning in 2020, they had, for 2019 or in the 12-month period preceding the day on which they make the application, a total income of at least $5,000 from the following sources:
(i) employment,
(ii) self-employment,
(iii) benefits paid to the person under any of subsections 22(1), 23(1), 152.04(1) and 152.05(1) of the Employment Insurance Act,
(iv) allowances, money or other benefits paid to the person under a provincial plan because of pregnancy or in respect of the care by the person of one or more of their new-born children or one or more children placed with them for the purpose of adoption, and
(v) any other source of income that is prescribed by regulation;
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3 (1) Est admissible à la prestation canadienne de relance économique, à l’égard de toute période de deux semaines comprise dans la période commençant le 27 septembre 2020 et se terminant le 23 octobre 2021, la personne qui remplit les conditions suivantes:
d) dans le cas d’une demande présentée en vertu de l’article 4 à l’égard d’une période de deux semaines qui débute en 2020, ses revenus provenant des sources ciaprès, pour l’année 2019 ou au cours des douze mois précédant la date à laquelle elle présente sa demande, s’élevaient à au moins cinq mille dollars:
(i) un emploi,
(ii) un travail qu’elle exécute pour son compte,
(iii) des prestations qui lui sont payées au titre de l’un des paragraphes 22(1), 23(1), 152.04(1) et 152.05(1) de la Loi sur l’assurance-emploi,
(iv) des allocations, prestations ou autres sommes qui lui sont payées, en vertu d’un régime provincial, en cas de grossesse ou de soins à donner par elle à son ou ses nouveau-nés ou à un ou plusieurs enfants placés chez elle en vue de leur adoption,
(v) une autre source de revenu prévue par règlement;
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[22] The assessment of eligibility for the benefits is a “fact-driven”
exercise, within the limits of the relevant legislation. That means a person seeking to show eligibility for the benefits must produce evidence to “back up”
the claimed earnings.
[23] Following the decision in Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Vavilov, [2019] 4 S.C.R. 653, the merits of the decision are reviewable on the standard of reasonableness.
[24] In considering reasonableness, the Court is to ask if the decision under review "bears the hallmarks of reasonableness — justification, transparency and intelligibility — and whether it is justified in relation to the relevant factual and legal constraints that bear on that decision"
; see Vavilov, supra at paragraph 99.
[25] Upon considering the Applicant’s affidavit and her written submissions, in my view she does not meet the element of the Hennelly, supra test that requires the Court to consider the merits of the proposed proceeding, in this case, an application for judicial review of the decision of the CRA.
[26] In the circumstances outlined by the Applicant, there is no basis upon which an application for judicial review could succeed.
[27] The Applicant has said that she was looking after her ill father, and this was the reason she was not working.
[28] The decisions of the CRA, attached as an exhibit to the Applicant’s affidavit, show that the decision-maker considered the information provided by the Applicant and concluded that she did not meet the eligibility criteria since she was not working for reasons that were unrelated to Covid-19.
[29] The CRA found that this was not a basis upon which either the CERB or CRB benefits could be granted.
[30] In my opinion, the evidence and arguments submitted by the Applicant in her motion for an extension of time do not address this finding.
[31] In my opinion, the Applicant has not shown merit, or potential merit, in any application for judicial review of the eligibility decision made by the CRA.
[32] I will briefly address the other elements of the test for an extension of time, that is evidence of a continuing intention to pursue an application for judicial review, a reasonable explanation for the delay and lack of prejudice to the opposing party.
[33] The Applicant deposed in her affidavit that she “recently”
became aware of the letters from the CRA and that she spoke with an employee of the CRA on or about August 27, 2025, before attending at the registry of the Court on or about September 2, 2025.
[34] According to the Index of Recorded Entries for this matter, the Applicant submitted her notice of motion and motion record on September 18, 2025.
[35] The decision set out in the letter of July 2, 2025 is a “second level”
review and for present purposes, I will consider the delay in relation to that decision, not the decision set out in the letter of February 3, 2023.
[36] The Federal Courts Act R.S.C., 1985, c. F-7 provides in subsection 18.1 (2) for a 30-day delay in the commencement of an application for judicial review, although the Court can exercise its discretion to extend the time for filing.
[37] The delay of thirty days from July 2, 2025, would have expired at least by August 2, 2025. The Applicant did not file her motion for an extension of time until September 18, 2025, some 47 days later. While this is not an inordinate delay, it does not support a continuing intention to pursue an application for judicial review.
[38] The Applicant has not provided a reasonable explanation for the delay.
[39] As for the lack of prejudice to the opposing party, I note that the Respondent did not oppose the Applicant’s motion but submitted a letter noting the evidence of the Applicant in her affidavit that she had not worked in the relevant periods for reasons that were not related to the Covid-19 pandemic. I see no particular prejudice to the Respondent but note that the lack of prejudice is only one element of the Hennelly, supra test.
[40] In the result, the motion for an extension of time will be dismissed. In the exercise of my discretion, there will be no order as to costs.
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