3- Old age security pension

Benefits

The maximum monthly OAS payments to eligible taxpayers in 2024 are as follows:¹⁴

Receiving the OAS benefit may be deferred for a maximum of five years. The benefit is then increased by 0.6% for each month of deferral, up to a maximum of 36%.

The Old Age Security Benefit Estimator can be used to determine the amount of benefits that could be paid out.

OAS benefits are reduced¹⁹ at the rate of 15% when an individual’s income reaches $99,997 and cease to be paid when income reaches $148,264 ($153,991 as of age 75). The GIS (with non-pensioner spouse), the spousal allowance and the surviving spouse benefit cease to be paid when the beneficiary’s income reaches $52,176, $40,272 and $29,328 respectively.²⁰

It is not financially advantageous to defer your OAS to after the age of 70. On the contrary, you could lose benefits.

Complementary Provincial Benefits

Low-income Seniors Benefit – New Brunswick

An annual benefit of $600²¹ is offered to seniors 60 years of age or older living in New Brunswick. To be eligible, the person must have received a federal GIS or a federal OAS allowance for the preceding year. A single benefit is paid per couple. However, if the spouses live apart (e.g. if one of them is in a nursing home), both are eligible for the benefit.

Guaranteed Annual Income System – Ontario

The guaranteed annual income system guarantees Ontarians 65 years or older who receive OAS benefits and the GIS²² a minimum income by paying them a monthly benefit of up to $87 ($174 per couple)²¹ based on the total family income.

¹⁴ The amounts and income thresholds are adjusted quarterly, those for the last quarter, i.e., the months of October, November and December, were not available at the time of publication. For additional information: Old age security payment amounts.

¹⁵ The amounts shown are maximums, based on the previous year’s income of the spouses; several conditions must be met to qualify. A GIS supplement is available for people with very low incomes.

¹⁶ Single, widowed or divorced pensioner or married pensioner (or in a common-law relationship) whose spouse is not a pensioner.

¹⁷ Married couples (or in a common-law relationship) when both spouses are pensioners.

¹⁸ Amount available to low-income taxpayers whose spouse is either a GIS recipient or deceased.

¹⁹ The maximum redemption thresholds indicated here are those applicable to the third quarter of 2024. Benefits are generally recovered by means of a withholding mechanism, which eliminates the need for individuals to repay the benefits when filing their tax returns for the year.

²⁰ The OAS and first $5,000 in employment or self-employment income are not considered for the purposes of these limits and a partial exemption of 50% applies to the next $10,000 of such income.

²¹ The benefit has been permanently increased to $600 as of 2025 and will be indexed annually as of this date.

²² The individual must be a resident of Canada for at least 10 years and have lived in Ontario in the past 12 months or for a total of 20 years since the age of 18. Income from other sources (private pension plan, CPP, investment income, etc.) must not be greater than $4,176 ($8,352 for a couple of seniors). These income thresholds are indexed annually.

²³ Indexed annually.