Recent changes – Social programs and benefits

• As of 2024, employees and employers are required to pay additional contributions to the CPP and QPP additional plan at a rate of 4% on the portion of income that falls between the maximum pensionable earnings and the new eligible earnings cap. The Climate Action Incentive payment was renamed the Canada Carbon Rebate (CCR) and the CCR rural supplement paid to residents of Ontario and New Brunswick was doubled as of June 22, 2024.

QUEBEC

• Starting in 2024, the maximum age for claiming a QPP pension was raised from 70 to 72 and workers will stop contributing to the QPP as of January 1 of the year in which they reach age 73, and as of age 65, they will be able to choose to stop contributing if they are already a QPP or CPP annuitant.
• Starting in 2025, individuals who benefit from QPP retirement benefits combined with a disability benefit can receive the full retirement benefit at age 65. In other words, once the individual becomes ineligible for the disability benefit, their retirement benefit will increase as if they had retired at that age.

ONTARIO

• Guaranteed Annual Income Plan benefits for seniors in Ontario were enhanced in July 2024.

NEW BRUNSWICK

• The Low Income Seniors Benefit, which was set at $600 since 2023, will be indexed annually as of 2025.