Free tool · Canada · Rules from Service Canada
Answer four questions about your age, your years living in Canada after age 18, where you live now, and your legal status, and see which Old Age Security rules match your answers — including whether you meet the residence minimum and what fraction of a full pension those years represent. This checker states the criteria as Service Canada states them. It does not decide whether you qualify, and Service Canada decides that on your application.
You can start Old Age Security at age 65, or as late as age 70. The earliest you can start is age 65.
Only years after your 18th birthday count. Forty years of residence in Canada after age 18 qualifies you for a full pension; fewer years gives a partial pension.
The residence minimum is different depending on where you live when you apply: at least 10 years if you live in Canada, at least 20 years if you live outside Canada.
If you live in Canada, you must be a Canadian citizen or a legal resident at the time Service Canada approves your application. If you live outside Canada, you must have been a Canadian citizen or a legal resident on the day before you left Canada.
Every rule on this page is stated as Service Canada states it on the official pages linked below. Social security agreements with other countries can change the residence picture, and transitional rules exist for some people who were over 18 and held a Canadian immigration visa before July 1, 1977 — neither is covered by this checker, so check the official pages if either applies to you.
Age. You must be 65 or older to receive the Old Age Security pension. You can start at age 65 or as late as age 70. If you wait until after age 65 to start, payments increase by 0.6% each month (7.2% per year), up to 36% at age 70.
Residence. To receive the full Old Age Security pension you must have lived in Canada for at least 40 years after age 18. If you have lived in Canada for fewer than 40 years, you may receive a partial pension: the partial pension is based on how many years you have lived in Canada, divided by 40. To qualify for the partial pension, you need to have lived in Canada for at least 10 years if you currently live in Canada, or at least 20 years if you currently live outside of Canada. Service Canada gives the example that 20 years of residence after age 18 gives a payment equal to 20 divided by 40, or 50% of the full pension.
Legal status. If you are living in Canada, you must be a Canadian citizen or a legal resident at the time Service Canada approves your application. If you are living outside Canada, you must have been a Canadian citizen or a legal resident of Canada on the day before you left Canada.
Amounts. The maximum monthly payment amount for October to December 2026 is $762.50 at age 65. Once you start receiving your pension, any additional time you live in Canada will not increase your payment amount. If you do not receive the Old Age Security pension, you cannot get the Guaranteed Income Supplement, and your spouse or common-law partner cannot apply for the Allowance.
Sources: Government of Canada, Old Age Security: When to start your pension (Canada.ca), opened at build time, and The Old Age Security program toolkit (Canada.ca). No figure on this page comes from anywhere else. Where a figure could not be verified on an opened official page, this page says to check the official page instead of stating it.
Next step: read the full step-by-step guide: How to Apply for Old Age Security in Canada