Who Qualifies for Old Age Security?

The three tests

You must be 65 or older. Beyond that, the rules depend on where you live when the pension starts:

• Living in Canada: you must be a Canadian citizen or legal resident when Service Canada approves the application, and have lived here for at least 10 years since age 18.
• Living abroad: you must have been a citizen or legal resident on the day before you left, and have lived in Canada for at least 20 years since age 18.

Meeting the minimum gets you a pension; it doesn't decide how big it is. The number of years you've lived here also sets whether you get the full amount or a fraction of it, which the OAS calculator works out.

Work doesn't count. Income only matters at the top

A job, or the lack of one, has no bearing on eligibility, and you can keep working after the pension starts. Income is different, but only for high earners. For a full pension, OAS is fully recovered once net income reaches $152,062 between 65 and 74, or $157,923 from 75, so above those figures nothing is paid. Net income here means almost everything taxable: pensions, salaries, EI, rental income, RRSP withdrawals, interest, dividends and capital gains. OAS, GIS and the Allowances themselves, RDSP payments and the GST/HST credit are left out.

One habit is required regardless: file a tax return every year. When you apply, it is the return Service Canada reads to set your net income.

Time abroad that can count as Canada

Years outside the country aren't always lost. If you worked abroad for a Canadian employer, that time can count as residence here, provided you came back within six months of the job ending, or you turned 65 while still on the posting and kept your Canadian residence. You'll need proof of the employment and of your return. Spouses, common-law partners and dependants who went with you, and Canadians working abroad for certain international organizations, may be able to count their time the same way.

If you lived or worked in a country that has one of Canada's social security agreements, you might qualify for a pension from each, and time there may help you reach Canada's minimum.

Applying, or not

If Service Canada has your information, a letter arrives around your 64th birthday saying you've been enrolled, and there's nothing else to do. No letter one month after your 64th birthday is the signal to call and ask whether you need to apply. You also have to act if the letter is wrong, if Service Canada writes asking you to apply, if you want to start later than 65, or if you've turned 65 and the pension hasn't begun.

Applications can go in online through My Service Canada Account once you're at least a month past your 64th birthday, or on paper with form ISP-3550, which also covers the Guaranteed Income Supplement. From outside Canada, only the paper form works, sent to the Service Canada office for your last province or territory.

Before 65: the Allowances

Two related benefits start at 60. The Allowance is for someone aged 60 to 64 whose spouse or common-law partner gets the Guaranteed Income Supplement; the Allowance for the Survivor is for someone that age whose partner has died. Both need 10 years in Canada since 18, citizenship or legal residence, income under a limit, and no current sponsorship agreement. How GIS itself is decided is covered in the GIS eligibility guide.