Should I start OAS at 65 or 70?
Old Age Security (OAS) is a monthly pension from the Government of Canada for people 65 and older. It doesn't depend on your work history. It depends on how long you have lived in Canada. You can start it at 65, or put it off as late as 70 for a larger payment for life.
The numbers
These figures are for October to December 2026, from the Government of Canada's pages Old Age Security: How much you could receive and When to start your retirement pension, checked on October 3, 2026.
| What | Amount |
|---|---|
| Full OAS from 65 to 74 | $762.50 a month |
| Full OAS from 75 | $838.75 a month |
| Each month you put it off after 65 | 0.6% more |
| Starting at 70, the latest | 36% more |
| Years in Canada after 18 for the full amount | 40 |
| Fewest years in Canada after 18 for any OAS | 10 |
There is no gain from waiting past 70. The amounts are raised each January, April, July and October to keep up with prices, and they don't go down if prices fall.
An example
Suppose you have lived in Canada for 40 years or more since you turned 18, so you get the full amount.
Full OAS a month, before tax, for October to December 2026.
- Start at 65: $762.50 a month.
- Start at 70: $762.50 plus 36% is $1,037.00 a month.
Starting at 70 means going without OAS from 65 to 70, about $45,750 at today's amount. The larger payments make that up by about age 83, before tax and in today's dollars. Past that age, starting at 70 has paid more in all.
If you have lived in Canada for less than 40 years
You get 1/40 of the full amount for each full year you have lived in Canada since you turned 18. With 30 years, that is 30/40 of the full amount, or $571.88 a month at 65. To get any OAS, you need at least 10 years if you live in Canada, or 20 years if you live outside it. Putting it off raises a partial pension by the same 0.6% a month.
What the choice depends on
There is no single right age. These are the things that usually matter:
- Your other income from 65 to 70. Waiting only works if your pension, CPP or savings cover those years. See Should I take CPP at 60, 65 or 70? for the same choice with CPP.
- How long you expect to collect. The larger payment pays off the longer it is paid.
- The OAS clawback. If your net income in 2026 is over $95,323, 15% of the amount over it is repaid from the OAS paid from July 2027 to June 2028. OAS counts as income, so a larger OAS can mean more is repaid.
- The Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS). GIS is paid with OAS to people with a low income. For a single person, that is under $23,112 a year at this quarter's figures. GIS can't be paid without OAS, and it isn't raised when you wait, so there is no benefit in putting OAS off if you can get GIS.
- Tax. OAS is taxed as income.
Where to find your own
If Service Canada has enough information about you, it enrols you in OAS on its own and sends you a letter around your 64th birthday. To start later, you can delay it in your My Service Canada Account or with the paper form ISP-3550. If a month has passed since your 64th birthday and no letter has come, contact Service Canada to find out whether you need to apply. These steps are from the Government of Canada's page Apply, delay, or change your start date, checked on November 2, 2026.