Pension Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. P-6)

Marginal note:Definitions

• 21.1 (1) The definitions in this subsection apply in this section.

  Canadian manning pool

  Canadian manning pool means a manning pool of the Canadian merchant navy established under Order in Council P.C. 14/3550 of May 19, 1941. (dépôt d’équipages canadien)

  Canadian marine training school

  Canadian marine training school means a school established under Order in Council P.C. 148/9130 of November 22, 1941. (école d’entraînement maritime canadienne)

  distressed mariner

  distressed mariner means a distressed mariner as defined in subsection 37(7.1) of the War Veterans Allowance Act. (en détresse)

  war service bonus

  war service bonus means the bonus paid under The Merchant Seamen War Service Bonus Order, 1944, Order in Council P.C. 149/2705 of April 18, 1944, as amended. (indemnité pour service de guerre)

• Marginal note:Applicable rules

  (2) The following rules apply for the purposes of this section:

  • (a) the period of a person’s service on a voyage or trip referred to in subsection 37(7.3) of the War Veterans Allowance Act includes

    • (i) any period of duty preparatory to the voyage or trip,

    • (ii) any period of duty between the end of the voyage or trip and the person’s return to Canada,

    • (iii) any period of duty in Canada after the end of the voyage or trip that is consequential on the voyage or trip,

    • (iv) any period of authorized leave of absence with pay during the voyage or trip,

    • (v) any period of captivity, imprisonment or internment by the enemy or by any foreign power that was not allied or associated with Canada, if that period commenced during the voyage or trip or occurred as a consequence of the voyage or trip,

    • (vi) any period of hospitalization resulting from an injury or disease or an aggravation thereof incurred during the voyage or trip, and

    • (vii) any period as a distressed mariner,

    but does not include any period after the person’s service on the voyage or trip was terminated for cause;

  • (b) the period of a person’s service on a voyage referred to in subsection (5) is the “Korean-related part of the voyage”, namely, the portion of the voyage during which the ship was in waters described in subsection (5) plus those portions of the voyage before and after that portion that, in the Minister’s opinion, were essential to the prosecution of the Korean War on behalf of the United Nations, and includes

    • (i) any period of authorized leave of absence with pay during the Korean-related part of the voyage,

    • (ii) any period of captivity, imprisonment or internment by the enemy or by any foreign power that was not allied or associated with Canada, if that period commenced during the Korean-related part of the voyage or occurred as a consequence of the Korean-related part of the voyage,

    • (iii) any period of hospitalization resulting from an injury or disease or an aggravation thereof incurred during the Korean-related part of the voyage, and

    • (iv) any period as a distressed mariner that commenced during the Korean-related part of the voyage,

    but does not include any period after the person’s service on the voyage was terminated for cause;

  • (c) a distressed mariner’s period as such commences the moment the mariner was shipwrecked, discharged or left behind from a ship on which the mariner was engaged, and ends with the mariner’s arrival at the mariner’s proper return port within the meaning of section 299 of the Canada Shipping Act, 1934;

  • (d) the period of a person’s service as a member of a Canadian manning pool includes

    • (i) any period of training,

    • (ii) any period of authorized leave of absence with pay, and

    • (iii) any period of hospitalization resulting from an injury or disease or an aggravation thereof incurred while the person was a member of the manning pool,

    but does not include any period after the person’s service as a member of the manning pool was terminated for cause;

  • (e) the existence of a manning pool record card for a person shall be taken as conclusive evidence that the person was a member of a Canadian manning pool during the period indicated on the card;

  • (f) evidence that the Director of Merchant Seamen paid war service bonus to a person in respect of any period shall be taken, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, as indicating that the person was a member of a Canadian manning pool during that period;

  • (g) where the service of a Canadian merchant mariner of World War II is based on subparagraph (4)(c)(ii), the period of service is the period in respect of which that mariner was paid war service bonus by the employer;

  • (h) where the service of a Canadian merchant mariner of World War II is based on subparagraph (4)(c)(iii), the period of service is the period from the beginning of the period of service on the first voyage to the end of the period of service on the last voyage with the same employer, except for any period in which that mariner was engaged in any employment, business or occupation not referred to in this section;

  • (i) the period of a person’s service as a trainee at a Canadian marine training school includes

    • (i) any period of authorized leave of absence with pay,

    • (ii) any period of transportation the costs of which were paid by the Department of Transport under the authority of Order in Council P.C. 148/9130 of November 22, 1941, and

    • (iii) any period of hospitalization resulting from an injury or disease or an aggravation thereof incurred while the person was a trainee,

    but does not include any period after the person’s service as a trainee was terminated for cause;

  • (j) where official records of a person’s service as a Canadian merchant mariner of World War I, World War II or the Korean War, or of injuries or disease suffered or contracted by a person during such service, are not available, the Minister may accept a statutory declaration or like statement from anyone if

    • (i) information about the existence of any registered or licensed ship on which it is claimed that the person served is corroborated by official records,

    • (ii) no information in the declaration or statement is contradicted by other evidence, and

    • (iii) after taking into consideration such corroboration as may be available, the Minister is satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that the information in the declaration or statement is true; and

  • (k) the Minister may presume death in every case where, according to the evidence available as to the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of a person whose death is in question or the loss of the ship on which the person was serving, the Minister is satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the death has in fact occurred.

• Marginal note:Canadian merchant mariner of World War I

  (3) A Canadian merchant mariner of World War I is

  • (a) any person who is a merchant navy veteran of World War I referred to in paragraph 37(7.3)(a), (b) or (c) of the War Veterans Allowance Act; or

  • (b) any person who, during World War I, served in a Canadian manning pool, in another merchant navy organization or in a form of service reasonably similar, or analogous, to one described in paragraph (4)(b), (c) or (d).

• Marginal note:Canadian merchant mariner of World War II

  (4) A Canadian merchant mariner of World War II is

  • (a) any person who is a merchant navy veteran of World War II referred to in paragraph 37(7.3)(a), (b) or (c) of the War Veterans Allowance Act;

  • (b) any person who, during World War II,

    • (i) signed an agreement with the Director of Merchant Seamen to join a Canadian manning pool and to serve at sea on foreign-going ships as directed by that Director, or the Director’s staff, for a period of two years or for the duration of World War II, whichever was the shorter period, and

    • (ii) served, in any capacity, in accordance with the agreement;

  • (c) any person who, during World War II, was permanently or recurrently employed at sea by an owner or charterer of a ship or by Canadian Marconi Company Limited, and who

    • (i) signed an agreement to continue to serve at sea with that employer for the duration of the war if so required by that employer,

    • (ii) was paid war service bonus by that employer, or

    • (iii) made two or more voyages referred to in paragraph 37(7.3)(a) of the War Veterans Allowance Act on ships operated by the same employer, if the employer was Canadian National Steamships, Canadian Pacific Steamships, Imperial Oil, Park Steamships or any other shipping company prescribed by the regulations; or

  • (d) any trainee at a Canadian marine training school during World War II who signed an agreement to enter a Canadian manning pool at the end of the school training period.

• Marginal note:Canadian merchant mariner of the Korean War

  (5) A Canadian merchant mariner of the Korean War is any person who, at any time during the period from June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953, served on board a Canadian ship while it was making a voyage that entered any of the waters, including gulfs, bays and inlets, lying between

  • (a) the coasts of Siberia, Korea and China,

  and

  • (b) a line beginning at a point on the coast of Siberia at longitude 135° East; thence south to a point at latitude 38° 30′ North and longitude 135° East; thence southwesterly to a point at latitude 30° North and longitude 124° East; thence south to Shokoto Sho; thence westerly to Shichisei Seki; and thence westerly to a point on the coast of China at latitude 23° North.

Marginal note:Improper conduct

• 22 (1) Subject to this section, a pension shall not be awarded when the disability of the member of the forces was due to improper conduct.

• Marginal note:Dependent condition

  (2) The Minister may, when the applicant is in a dependent condition, award such pension as the Minister deems fit in the circumstances.

• Marginal note:Venereal disease

  (3) Where venereal disease was contracted by a member of the forces prior to enlistment and aggravated during service, pension shall be awarded for the total pensionable disability existing at the time of discharge in all cases where the member saw service in a theatre of actual war, and no increase in disability after discharge is pensionable, but, if it subsequently appears on examination that the disability has decreased in extent, pension shall be decreased accordingly; and pension may thereafter be increased or decreased, subject to the limitation prescribed in this section, in accordance with the degree of disability that may be shown to exist on any subsequent examination.

Marginal note:Prior occupation

23 The occupation, income or condition in life of a person prior to becoming a member of the forces does not in any way affect the amount of pension awarded to or in respect of that person.

24 [Repealed, 1995, c. 18, s. 48]

Marginal note:Reduction of pension

25 The Minister shall reduce a pension by a monthly amount determined under section 26 if, in respect of the same death or same disability for which the pension is payable,

• (a) an amount arising from a legal liability to pay damages is collected by or in respect of the pensioner; or

• (b) compensation is payable to or in respect of the pensioner under

  • (i) the Merchant Seamen Compensation Act,

  • (ii) the Government Employees Compensation Act,

  • (iii) any provincial workers’ compensation legislation,

  • (iv) a compensation plan established by any other legislation of a similar nature, whether legislation of Canada, a province or another jurisdiction, other than

    • (A) a compensation plan to which the pensioner has contributed, or

    • (B) a compensation plan that provides a payment or payments that are in substance a continuation of the pay or benefits of a member of the forces, or

  • (v) a compensation plan of a similar nature established by the United Nations or by or under an international agreement to which Canada is a party, other than

    • (A) a compensation plan to which the pensioner has contributed, or

    • (B) a compensation plan that provides a payment or payments that are in substance a continuation of the pay or benefits of a member of the forces.