Spence v. Aviva Insurance Company of Canada (19-013457)

The claimant and insurer disagreed over the deduction of EI sickness benefits from IRBs. Vice Chair Boyce held that EI sickness benefits were not deductible from IRBs because they were not considered “gross employment income”. He distinguished cases which permitted the deduction of EI maternity benefits – which were received because a person is employed and otherwise able to work – from EI sickness benefits, which a person receives because he or she is unable to work due to injury or impairment.