- Parties: The applicant was Suzy Cohen. The respondent was the Attorney General of Canada. 

- Subject Matter: The applicant, who was self-employed, worked as an independent writer, director, and producer for the film and television industry for over 40 years. On May 4, 2022, after a second review, the Canada Revenue Agency rejected her applications for the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB). She sought judicial review of the decision. She asked the court to consider and find that she met both eligibility criteria for the CRB, to cancel the requested CRB refund, and to allow her to collect the CRB benefits that she did not receive. 

- Ruling: The court ruled in the respondent’s favour and dismissed the judicial review application. The court held that the CRA officer’s decision possessed the requisite attributes of transparency, justification, and intelligibility and lacked reviewable errors. The court determined that the officer took into consideration the evidence on the record, made justified conclusions regarding the applicant’s income, and reached a reasonable decision. The reasons provided in the officer’s report enabled the court to understand the basis for the decision and to confirm that there were no omissions of relevant and decisive facts. Given that the decision was reasonable, the court said that it need not consider the allegations relating to procedural fairness. 

- Date: The hearing was set on Nov. 14, 2023. The court released its decision on Nov. 21, 2023. 

- Venue: This was a federal case before the Federal Court. 

- Amount: The court awarded no costs.