Ottawa, Ontario – Employment and Social Development Canada

Employment and Social Development Canada today announced the quarterly benefit amounts for Old Age Security (OAS) for July to September 2014.

The maximum basic OAS pension benefit paid to people 65 years of age and older will increase from $551.54 to $558.71 per month from July 1 to September 30, 2014. Payments under the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), the Allowance and the Allowance for the Survivor will also remain unchanged.

OAS benefit amounts are reviewed quarterly (in January, April, July and October) and revised as required to reflect increases in the cost of living, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) set by Statistics Canada. OAS benefit amounts also increased slightly for the first quarter of 2014, in response to an increase in the average CPI. The Old Age Security Act guarantees that OAS benefits do not go down, even when there is a decrease in the CPI. If the average CPI surpasses the previous level in the future, OAS benefits will go up again.

Quick Facts

The Old Age Security program:

• consists of the basic pension, the GIS and the Allowances. The GIS and the Allowances provide additional benefits to eligible low-income pensioners and their spouses or common law partners, as well as to eligible survivors;
• is funded through general tax revenues and enhances the quality of life of Canadian seniors by providing a modest base upon which to build additional income for retirement. In 2012–2013, it provided 5.2 million seniors with $40.3 billion in benefits.

src:news.gc.ca