Applying for OAS and GIS

Topic: Retirement · Part 8 of 13 · 🔴 Advanced

In one sentence

This post shows how to get your Old Age Security pension, when to start it, how the Guaranteed Income Supplement helps people with low income, and when high income means paying some OAS back.

Words to know

OAS (Old Age Security): a monthly pension from age 65, based on years you lived in Canada after age 18. You don’t need to have worked.
GIS (Guaranteed Income Supplement): an extra monthly payment for OAS pensioners with low income. It is not taxed.
Allowance: a payment for people aged 60 to 64 with low income whose spouse or partner gets OAS and GIS.
Recovery tax (“clawback”): paying back part of your OAS when your income is above a set amount.
Net world income: your income from Canada and every other country, after certain deductions.

Step 1: Watch for your enrolment letter at 64

Service Canada enrols many people in OAS automatically. If it has your information, you get a letter around your 64th birthday.

You need to act if:

One month has passed since your 64th birthday and you have no letter. Contact Service Canada.
The letter has wrong information, or Service Canada asks you to apply.
You want to delay OAS or choose a different start date.

You can apply online in your My Service Canada Account, starting one month after your 64th birthday. Or you can use the paper form, the Application for the Old Age Security Pension and the Guaranteed Income Supplement (ISP-3550).

Important if you have lived outside Canada: you must use the paper application. (This rule also covers Canadians who lived abroad.) Send it to the Service Canada office in your last province or territory of residence. Have your full list of where you lived since 18.

Step 2: Decide whether to delay OAS

You can delay OAS for up to 5 years after 65. For each month you wait, your payment goes up 0.6%. That is 7.2% a year, up to 36% more at 70.

Things to know before you delay:

While you delay OAS, you can’t get the GIS. Your spouse or partner also can’t get the Allowance.
GIS and Allowance amounts do not go up when you delay.
If you don’t have 40 years in Canada yet, waiting may add years and raise your partial pension. Once OAS starts, more years in Canada don’t change it.

So delaying often fits people with other income who won’t qualify for GIS. People with low income often start at 65 to get GIS.

Step 3: See if you qualify for GIS

You may get GIS if you are 65 or older, get OAS, live in Canada, and have income below a set limit. People under a sponsorship agreement usually can’t get GIS, with some exceptions (for example, if the sponsor has died).

Amounts for October to December 2026. Checked October 2026. Amounts rise each January, April, July and October with the cost of living.

Benefit	Your situation	Income must be less than	Maximum per month
OAS, age 65 to 74	Anyone eligible	$152,062 (2025 income)	$762.50
OAS, age 75+	Anyone eligible	$157,923 (2025 income)	$838.75
GIS	Single, divorced or widowed	$23,112	$1,138.90
GIS	Spouse gets full OAS	$30,528 (couple)	$685.56
Allowance (60 to 64)	Spouse gets OAS and GIS	$42,768 (couple)	$1,448.06
Allowance for the Survivor (60 to 64)	Widowed	$31,152	$1,726.18

These are maximums. Your OAS is lower if you have a partial pension, and GIS goes down as your income goes up.

Step 4: File your taxes every year

GIS is based on last year’s income. Service Canada gets it from your tax return. If you don’t file your taxes, your GIS can stop or go down.

File your tax return every year by the deadline, even if you had no income.
Your spouse or partner should file too, because GIS for couples uses combined income.
If you can’t file, you can report your income directly to Service Canada.

Step 5: Understand the OAS recovery tax

If your net world income is above a set amount, you repay 15% of the amount above it. You repay it from July of the next year to June of the year after.

For 2025 income (repaid July 2026 to June 2027): the threshold is $93,454.
For 2026 income (repaid July 2027 to June 2028): the threshold is $95,323.
At about $152,062 of 2025 income (ages 65 to 74), all of the OAS is repaid.

Only people with higher income pay this. If it applies to you, a tax professional can explain ways to plan your income.

Step 6: The Allowance for ages 60 to 64

The Allowance helps couples where one person gets OAS and GIS, and the other is 60 to 64 with low income. The Allowance for the Survivor is for people 60 to 64 with low income whose spouse or partner has died. Both stop at 65, when OAS can start.

Example

Delaying OAS: the full OAS at 65 is $762.50 a month (October to December 2026). Waiting until 70 adds 36%: $762.50 × 1.36 = $1,037.00 a month.

Partial OAS: Kim has lived in Canada for 20 years after age 18. Her OAS at 65 is 20 ÷ 40 = 50% of the full amount: $762.50 × 50% = $381.25 a month.

Recovery tax: Raj is 67. His 2026 net world income is $105,323. The amount above the threshold is $105,323 − $95,323 = $10,000. He repays 15% × $10,000 = $1,500, spread over July 2027 to June 2028.

Common mistakes

Waiting for a letter that never comes. Contact Service Canada one month after your 64th birthday.
Applying online after living abroad, when a paper application is needed.
Delaying OAS when you could get GIS. You lose the GIS while you wait.
Skipping your tax return, which can stop your GIS.

✅ My checklist

☐ I know if I was enrolled in OAS automatically.
☐ I have the list of where I lived since age 18.
☐ I compared starting OAS at 65 with delaying it.
☐ I checked if I or my spouse may get GIS or the Allowance.
☐ I file my taxes every year, even with no income.

Next in this topic → Turning your RRSP into a RRIF

Back to the topic → Retirement

There are no affiliate or referral links in this post. This is general information, not financial, tax or legal advice; everyone’s situation is different. Figures were checked in October 2026 and can change.

Sources: Apply for OAS · OAS: when to start · OAS: how much you could receive · OAS payment amounts · Guaranteed Income Supplement · GIS: eligibility · GIS: how much you could receive · The Allowance · OAS recovery tax