Counting pension years from your home country (social security agreements)

Topic: Retirement · Part 4 of 13 · 🔴 Advanced

In one sentence

If you lived or worked in a country that has a social security agreement with Canada, those years can help you qualify for Canadian pensions, and your Canadian years can help you qualify for that country’s pension.

Words to know

Social security agreement: a deal between Canada and another country. It links their public pension programs so people who lived or worked in both are not left out.
OAS (Old Age Security): a monthly government pension for people 65 and older. It is based on how many years you lived in Canada after age 18.
CPP (Canada Pension Plan): a pension you pay into from your pay. What you get depends on what you paid in.
Residence or contribution periods: the years you lived in a country (residence) or paid into its pension plan (contributions).
Service Canada: the federal government office that handles OAS and CPP.

Step 1: Understand what an agreement does (and doesn’t do)

Many pensions have a minimum. For example, to get OAS while living in Canada, you need at least 10 years in Canada after age 18. To get OAS while living outside Canada, you need at least 20 years.

Many newcomers arrive later in life and are short of these minimums. An agreement can help. It can add your years from the other country to your Canadian years, only to check if you meet the minimum.

What an agreement does not do:

It does not make your pension bigger. Canada pays based only on your Canadian years or CPP contributions.
It does not move money between countries. Each country pays its own pension, under its own rules.
It does not replace the other country’s rules. Each country decides its own ages and amounts.

Agreements can also work the other way. Your Canadian years may help you meet the minimum for your home country’s pension. Some agreements also make it easier to get paid while living abroad.

Step 2: Check if your country has an agreement

Canada has social security agreements with many countries. The list on canada.ca shows about 65 countries. A few examples are Australia, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Korea (South), Mexico, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Each agreement is different. Some cover only some benefits. For example, the agreements with the Philippines (in force since March 1, 1997) and South Korea (in force since May 1, 1999) cover CPP and OAS on the Canadian side. They cover old age, disability and survivor benefits.

Find your country on the “Social security agreements” page on canada.ca. Each country has its own page with its own forms.

No agreement with your country? You can still apply for both pensions. You may qualify in each country on your own years there.

Step 3: Gather your records

You will need proof of your time in each country. Start early, because old records can be hard to find.

Your foreign social security or pension number (for example, your national insurance number).
Dates you lived in each country, and dates you worked and paid into its pension plan.
Passports, entry stamps or immigration papers that show when you came to Canada.
Your CPP Statement of Contributions, from your My Service Canada Account.

Step 4: Apply in each country, with the right form

You apply separately for each country’s pension. Where you live decides which form you use.

For Canadian pensions (OAS and CPP), if you live in Canada:

OAS: the Application for the Old Age Security Pension and the Guaranteed Income Supplement (ISP-3550).
CPP: the Application for a Canada Pension Plan Retirement Pension (ISP-1000).
If you live or have lived outside Canada, Service Canada says you must apply on paper, not online. Mail it to the Service Canada office in your last province or territory of residence.
Have the country name, your foreign insurance number, and your start and end dates ready.

For your home country’s pension, if you live in Canada: use the agreement form on that country’s canada.ca page. Two examples:

Philippines: “Application for a Philippine retirement pension (CAN-PHI-1)”.
South Korea: “Korean Old Age benefit (CAN-KOR 1 OA)”.

You can bring these forms to a Service Canada Centre. Or mail them to International Operations, Service Canada, PO Box 250, Fredericton NB E3B 4Z6. Service Canada sends them on to the other country.

If you live abroad and want Canadian pensions, there are other forms, like ISP5054-PHI or ISP5054-KOR. You hand these in at a social security office in that country.

Step 5: Get the timing right

Apply early. You can apply for CPP up to 12 months before you want it to start. Paper applications can take longer than online ones.
Watch for your OAS letter. Service Canada may enrol you in OAS automatically and send a letter around your 64th birthday. If one month passes after your 64th birthday with no letter, contact them. People with years abroad often need to apply.
Check the other country’s ages. Its pension may start at a different age than Canada’s. Apply in time for each one.
Compare waiting. OAS stops growing with new Canadian years once it starts. If you are close to 10 or 20 Canadian years, waiting may give you a bigger OAS. Starting with the help of an agreement may get you money sooner. Compare both.

Example

Ana lived in her home country from age 18 to 58. That is 40 years, and she paid into its pension plan. She moved to Canada at 58. At 65, she has 7 years in Canada after age 18.

Without an agreement, 7 years is less than the 10-year minimum. She could not get OAS yet.
Her home country has an agreement with Canada. Her 40 years there count toward the 10-year minimum. 7 + 40 = 47 years, so she qualifies.
Canada pays only for her 7 Canadian years. OAS is paid in fortieths: 7 ÷ 40 of the full amount.
The full OAS for ages 65 to 74 is up to $762.50 a month (October to December 2026). $762.50 × 7 ÷ 40 = about $133.44 a month.
Her home country pays its own pension for her 40 years there, under its own rules.

If Ana waited until 68, she would have 10 Canadian years. Her OAS would be $762.50 × 10 ÷ 40 = about $190.63, plus a bonus for waiting. But she would get nothing for three years. Both choices are reasonable; it depends on her needs.

Common mistakes

Thinking an agreement adds your foreign years to your Canadian pension amount. It only helps you qualify.
Applying only in Canada and forgetting the pension from your home country, or the other way around.
Applying online when you have lived abroad. Service Canada asks for a paper application in that case.
Waiting until the last month to look for old records from another country.

✅ My checklist

☐ I checked if my country is on the canada.ca agreements list.
☐ I wrote down the dates I lived and worked in each country.
☐ I found my foreign pension or insurance number.
☐ I know which forms I need for Canada and for my home country.
☐ I put a reminder to apply up to 12 months before I want my pension to start.

Next in this topic → Workplace pensions and group RRSPs

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: Social security agreements (canada.ca) · Philippines agreement · Korea agreement · Lived or living outside Canada: eligibility · Apply for OAS · Apply for the CPP retirement pension · OAS: when to start