Estimate your Old Age Security pension from your years of Canadian residency and your start age, and see how much the recovery tax (clawback) takes back.
Uses the July–September 2026 maximum OAS of $751.97/month for ages 65–74 and $827.17/month for age 75+, published by Employment and Social Development Canada.
Old Age Security is not a contributory pension like the CPP. You do not pay into it and you do not need a work history. It is paid from general government revenue and depends on two things: how long you have lived in Canada after age 18, and when you choose to start.
You need at least 10 years of residence in Canada after age 18 to receive any OAS at all. Payments also require you to be a Canadian citizen or legal resident at the time you apply.
You receive the full pension once you have 40 years of residence after 18. Between 10 and 40 years, the pension is prorated by residency: 25 years gives you 62.5% of the maximum.
You can delay OAS past 65 in exchange for a higher payment. Each month you defer adds 0.6%, so waiting the full five years to 70 adds 36% permanently. It is paid for life and indexed.
Since July 2022, OAS rises permanently by 10% the month you turn 75, on top of any deferral increase and independent of it.
OAS is taxable income, and it is clawed back if your income is high. You repay 15% of every dollar of net income above the annual threshold, up to the full amount of OAS you received. Once your income is high enough that 15% of the excess equals your OAS, you receive nothing.
Two details matter. First, the test uses your net income for the previous tax year, so a one-off income event can claw back OAS the following July. Second, the recovery happens when you file your tax return — the payment is not reduced at source, so it can arrive as a bill the following spring.
Yes, provided you were resident in Canada for at least 10 years after turning 18. If you have between 10 and 40 years, you receive a partial pension prorated on residency. Someone with 20 years of residence qualifies for 50% of the maximum. Canada also has social security agreements with many countries that can help you meet the 10-year minimum.
If Service Canada has enough information on file, you may be enrolled automatically and receive a letter the month before you turn 65. If you do not receive that letter, you must apply. If you are deferring past 65, you must tell Service Canada — deferral is not automatic.
Once you qualify, OAS is paid outside Canada, but there is a catch: if you live outside Canada for more than six months in a year after the year you turn 65, the partial pension is based only on your years of residence after age 18 in Canada, and you generally need at least 20 years of residence to keep receiving OAS abroad. The GIS is not paid outside Canada at all.
Deferring only pays off if you live long enough to collect more than you gave up. The break-even is usually around age 82–84. If you have health or cash-flow reasons to take it early, or you are in a low tax bracket now but expect a high one later, deferring is less attractive. Because OAS is also clawed back on income, high earners gain less from the deferral bonus than the headline 36% suggests.
It uses the published maximum OAS amounts and the official residency and deferral rules, so it is a good planning estimate. It does not model the Guaranteed Income Supplement, the Allowance, or the exact interaction between deferral and the clawback in a given tax year. Your exact entitlement is calculated by Service Canada.