Old Age Security Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. O-9)

Calculation of Income

Marginal note:Calculation of income

13 For the purposes of determining the amount of supplement that may be paid to a pensioner for a month before July 1, 1999, the income for a calendar year of a person or an applicant is the income of that person or applicant for that year computed in accordance with the Income Tax Act, except that

• (a) there shall be deducted from the person’s or applicant’s income from office or employment for that year

  • (i) a single amount in respect of all offices and employments of that person or applicant equal to the lesser of five hundred dollars and one fifth of the person’s or applicant’s income from office or employment for that year,

  • (ii) the amount of employee’s premiums paid by the person or applicant during the year under the Employment Insurance Act, and

  • (iii) the amount of employee’s contributions made by the person or applicant during the year under the Canada Pension Plan or a provincial pension plan as defined in section 3 of that Act;

• (b) there shall be deducted from the person’s or applicant’s self-employed earnings for that year

  • (i) the amount of contributions made in respect of those self-employed earnings by the person or applicant during the year under the Canada Pension Plan or a provincial pension plan as defined in section 3 of that Act, and

  • (ii) the amount of premium paid by the person or applicant during the year under Part VII.1 of the Employment Insurance Act; and

• (c) there shall be deducted from the person’s or applicant’s income for that year, to the extent that those amounts have been included in computing that income,

  • (i) the amount of any benefit under this Act and the amount of any similar payment under a law of a provincial legislature,

  • (ii) the amount of any allowance under the Family Allowances Act and the amount of any similar payment under a law of a provincial legislature,

  • (iii) the amount of any death benefit under the Canada Pension Plan or a provincial pension plan as defined in section 3 of that Act,

  • (iv) the amount of any grant under a program that is a prescribed program of the Government of Canada relating to home insulation or energy conversion for the purposes of paragraphs 12(1)(u) and 56(1)(s) of the Income Tax Act, and

  • (v) the amount of any social assistance payment made on the basis of a means, a needs or an income test by a registered charity as defined in subsection 248(1) of the Income Tax Act or under a program provided for by an Act of Parliament or a provincial legislature that is neither a program prescribed under the Income Tax Act nor a program under which the amounts referred to in subparagraph (i) are paid.

Statement or Estimate of Income

Marginal note:Statement of income to be made

• 14 (1) Every person by whom an application for a supplement in respect of a current payment period is made shall, in the application, make a statement of the person’s income for the base calendar year.

• Marginal note:Waiver — statement of income

  (1.01) The Minister may waive the requirement to make a statement of income under subsection (1) if that information has been made available to the Minister under this Act and, in that case, the statement is deemed to have been made for the purposes of this Part.

• Marginal note:Minister may estimate income

  (1.1) If the requirement for an application for payment of a supplement for any month has been waived under subsection 11(3.1) or (4), the Minister may, on the basis of the information available to him or her,

  • (a) estimate the applicant’s income for the base calendar year; and

  • (b) in the case of an applicant who is a person described in subsection 15(2), estimate the income of the applicant’s spouse or common-law partner for the base calendar year.

• Marginal note:Statement of income where income estimated

  (1.2) Where a person’s income for a base calendar year has been estimated under subsection (1.1), the Minister may require that the person make a statement to the Minister of their income for any month in that year.

• Marginal note:Additional statement if retirement in current payment period

  (2) If in a current payment period a person who is an applicant, or is an applicant’s spouse or common-law partner who has filed a statement as described in paragraph 15(2)(a), ceases to hold an office or employment or ceases to carry on a business, that person may, not later than the end of the second payment period after the current payment period, in addition to making the statement of income required by subsection (1) in the case of the applicant or in addition to filing a statement as described in paragraph 15(2)(a) in the case of the applicant’s spouse or common-law partner, file a statement of the person’s estimated income for the calendar year in which the person ceased to hold that office or employment or ceased to carry on that business, which income shall be calculated as the total of

  • (a) any pension income received by the person in that part of that calendar year that is after the month in which the person ceases to hold that office or employment or to carry on that business, divided by the number of months in that part of that calendar year and multiplied by 12,

  • (b) the income from any office or employment or any business for that calendar year other than income from the office, employment or business that has ceased, and

  • (c) the person’s income for the base calendar year calculated as though, for that year, the person had no income from any office or employment or any business and no pension income.

• Marginal note:Additional statement if retirement in the last month of the calendar year that is in the current payment period

  (3) Despite subsection (2), if in the last month of a calendar year that ends in the current payment period a person who is an applicant, or is an applicant’s spouse or common-law partner who has filed a statement as described in paragraph 15(2)(a), ceases to hold an office or employment or ceases to carry on a business, the person may, not later than the end of the second payment period after the current payment period, in addition to making the statement of income required by subsection (1) in the case of the applicant or in addition to filing a statement as described in paragraph 15(2)(a) in the case of the applicant’s spouse or common-law partner, file a statement of the person’s estimated income for the calendar year that is immediately after the month in which the person ceased to hold that office or employment or ceased to carry on that business, which income shall be calculated as the total of

  • (a) any pension income received by the person in that calendar year,

  • (b) the income from any office or employment or any business for that calendar year other than income from the office, employment or business that has ceased, and

  • (c) the person’s income for the base calendar year calculated as though, for that year, the person had no income from any office or employment or any business and no pension income.

• Marginal note:Additional statement if loss of pension income in current payment period

  (4) If in a current payment period a person who is an applicant, or is an applicant’s spouse or common-law partner who has filed a statement as described in paragraph 15(2)(a), suffers a loss of income due to termination of or reduction in pension income, the person may, not later than the end of the second payment period after the current payment period, in addition to making the statement of income required by subsection (1) in the case of the applicant or in addition to filing a statement as described in paragraph 15(2)(a) in the case of the applicant’s spouse or common-law partner, file a statement of the person’s estimated income for the calendar year in which the loss is suffered, which income shall be calculated as the total of

  • (a) any pension income received by the person in that part of that calendar year that is after the month immediately before the month in which the loss is suffered, divided by the number of months in that part of that calendar year and multiplied by 12,

  • (b) the income from any office or employment or any business for that calendar year, and

  • (c) the person’s income for the base calendar year calculated as though, for that year, the person had no income from any office or employment or any business and no pension income.

• Marginal note:Additional statement if retirement before current payment period

  (5) If, in the circumstances described in paragraphs (a) and (b), a person who is an applicant, or is an applicant’s spouse or common-law partner who has filed a statement as described in paragraph 15(2)(a), ceases to hold an office or employment or ceases to carry on a business, the person may, not later than the end of the payment period that is immediately after the current payment period, in addition to making the statement of income required by subsection (1) in the case of the applicant or in addition to filing a statement as described in paragraph 15(2)(a) in the case of the applicant’s spouse or common-law partner,

  • (a) if the person ceases to hold that office or employment or to carry on that business in the last calendar year ending before the payment period, file a statement of the person’s estimated income for the calendar year ending in the current payment period, which income shall be calculated as the total of

    • (i) any pension income received by the person in that calendar year,

    • (ii) the income from any office or employment or any business for that calendar year, other than income from the office, employment or business that has ceased, and

    • (iii) the person’s income for the base calendar year calculated as though, for that year, the person had no income from any office or employment or any business and no pension income; and

  • (b) if the person ceases to hold that office or employment or to carry on that business in a month that is before the payment period and after the last calendar year ending before the payment period, file a statement of the person’s estimated income for the calendar year ending in the current payment period, which income shall be calculated as the total of

    • (i) any pension income received by the person in that part of that calendar year that is after the month in which the person ceases to hold that office or employment or to carry on that business, divided by the number of months in that part of that calendar year and multiplied by 12,

    • (ii) the income from any office or employment or any business for that calendar year, other than income from the office, employment or business that has ceased, and

    • (iii) the person’s income for the base calendar year calculated as though, for that year, the person had no income from any office or employment or any business and no pension income.

• Marginal note:Additional statement if loss of pension income before current payment period

  (6) If, in the circumstances described in paragraph (a) or (b), a person who is an applicant, or is an applicant’s spouse or common-law partner who has filed a statement as described in paragraph 15(2)(a), suffers a loss of income due to a termination of or reduction in pension income, the person may, not later than the end of the payment period that is immediately after the current payment period, in addition to making the statement of income required by subsection (1) in the case of the applicant or in addition to filing a statement as described in paragraph 15(2)(a) in the case of the applicant’s spouse or common-law partner,

  • (a) if the loss is suffered in the last calendar year ending before the payment period, file a statement of the person’s estimated income for the calendar year ending in the current payment period, which income shall be calculated as the total of

    • (i) any pension income received by the person in that calendar year,

    • (ii) the income from any office or employment or any business for that calendar year, and

    • (iii) the person’s income for the base calendar year calculated as though, for that year, the person had no income from any office or employment or any business and no pension income; and

  • (b) if the loss is suffered in a month that is before the payment period and after the last calendar year ending before the payment period, file a statement of the person’s estimated income for the calendar year ending in the current payment period, which income shall be calculated as the total of

    • (i) any pension income received by the person in that part of that calendar year that is after the month immediately before the month in which the loss is suffered, divided by the number of months in that part of that calendar year and multiplied by 12,

    • (ii) the income from any office or employment or any business for that calendar year, and

    • (iii) the person’s income for the base calendar year calculated as though, for that year, the person had no income from any office or employment or any business and no pension income.

• Marginal note:Where statement filed under subsection (2), (3) or (4)

  (7) Where under subsection (2), (3) or (4) a statement of estimated income is filed by an applicant or an applicant’s spouse or common-law partner, no supplement calculated on the basis of that statement may be paid to the applicant for any month in the current payment period before

  • (a) the month immediately following the month shown in the statement as the month in which the applicant or the applicant’s spouse or common-law partner, as the case may be, ceased to hold the office or employment or ceased to carry on the business, or

  • (b) the month shown in the statement as the month in which the applicant or the applicant’s spouse or common-law partner, as the case may be, suffered the loss of income due to termination or reduction of pension income,

  whichever is applicable.

Spouses and Common-law Partners

Marginal note:Information required with application for supplement

• 15 (1) Every person by whom an application for a supplement in respect of a payment period is made shall, in the application, state whether the person has or had a spouse or common-law partner at any time during the payment period or in the month before the first month of the payment period, and, if so, the name and address of the spouse or common-law partner and whether, to the person’s knowledge, the spouse or common-law partner is a pensioner.

• Marginal note:Statement if application waived

  (1.1) If the requirement for an application for payment of a supplement for any month has been waived under subsection 11(4) for a person who did not have a spouse or common-law partner immediately before the last payment period in respect of which a supplement was paid or, if no supplement was ever paid to the person, immediately before the last payment period in respect of which an application for payment of a supplement was received but who has a spouse or common-law partner immediately before the current payment period, the person shall notify the Minister without delay of the date of that change, the name and address of the spouse or common-law partner and whether, to the person’s knowledge, the spouse or common-law partner is a pensioner.

• Marginal note:Statement by spouse or common-law partner

  (2) Subject to subsections (3), (4.1) and (4.2), where a person makes an application for a supplement in respect of a payment period and the person has or had a spouse or common-law partner at any time during the payment period or in the month before the first month of the payment period, the application shall not be considered or dealt with until such time as

  • (a) the applicant’s spouse or common-law partner files a statement in prescribed form of the spouse’s or common-law partner’s income for the base calendar year;

  • (b) an application for a supplement in respect of the current payment period is received from the applicant’s spouse or common-law partner; or

  • (c) the income of the applicant’s spouse or common-law partner for the base calendar year is estimated under subsection 14(1.1).

• Marginal note:Waiver — subsection (1)

  (2.1) The Minister may waive the requirement to submit the information described in subsection (1) if that information has been submitted to the Minister in a joint application referred to in subsection 19(4).

• Marginal note:Waiver — paragraph (2)(a)

  (2.2) The Minister may waive the requirement to file a statement under paragraph (2)(a) if the information has been made available to the Minister under this Act, and, if that is the case, the statement is deemed to have been filed for the purposes of this Part.

• Marginal note:Notice of intent

  (2.3) If the Minister intends to waive the requirement for an application in respect of a person under subsection 11(3.1) and the person has a spouse or common-law partner, the Minister shall notify the spouse or common-law partner in writing of that intention and provide the spouse or common-law partner with the information regarding them on which the Minister intends to rely to approve the payment of a supplement.

• Marginal note:Inaccuracies

  (2.4) The person’s spouse or common-law partner shall, before the day on which the person attains 65 years of age, file with the Minister a statement in which the spouse or common-law partner corrects any inaccuracies in the information provided by the Minister under subsection (2.3).

• Marginal note:Direction by Minister where no statement filed by spouse or common-law partner or where spouses or common-law partners living apart

  (3) Where an application for a supplement in respect of any payment period has been made by a person, the Minister may, after any investigation of the circumstances that the Minister considers necessary, direct that the application be considered and dealt with as though the person did not have a spouse or common-law partner on the last day of the previous payment period, in any case where

  • (a) no application or statement as described in subsection (2) has been filed by or received from the spouse or common-law partner of the person and no estimate of the income of the spouse or common-law partner of the person has been made under subsection 14(1.1); or

  • (b) the Minister is satisfied that the person, as a result of circumstances not attributable to the person or the spouse or common-law partner, was not living with the spouse or common-law partner in a dwelling maintained by the person or the spouse or common-law partner at the time the application was made.

• Marginal note:Continuing direction

  (3.1) A direction made under subsection (3) in respect of a payment period is deemed to be a direction made in respect of every subsequent payment period, but the Minister may, after any investigation of the circumstances that the Minister considers necessary, cancel the direction.

• Marginal note:Direction — spouse or common-law partner of incarcerated person

  (3.2) The Minister may, after any investigation that the Minister considers necessary, direct, in respect of any month in a payment period, that an application for a supplement be considered and dealt with as though the applicant did not have a spouse or common-law partner on the last day of the previous payment period if the Minister is satisfied that, at any time during the preceding month, the applicant was the spouse or common-law partner of an incarcerated person described in subsection 5(3), except for the month in which the applicant’s spouse or common-law partner is released.

• Marginal note:Continuing direction

  (3.3) A direction made under subsection (3.2) continues to apply in respect of every subsequent month until the month before the month in which the spouse or common-law partner is released. However, the Minister may, after any investigation of the circumstances that the Minister considers necessary, cancel the direction.

• Marginal note:Notification of release

  (4) Every applicant who is the subject of a direction under subsection (3.2) shall inform the Minister without delay of their spouse or common-law partner’s release.

• Marginal note:Direction by Minister where spouses separated

  (4.1) Where an application for a supplement in respect of a payment period that commences after June 30, 1999 has been made by a person, the Minister, if satisfied that the person is separated from the person’s spouse, having been so separated for a continuous period of at least three months, exclusive of the month in which the spouses became separated, shall direct that the application be considered and dealt with as though the person had ceased to have a spouse at the end of the third such month.

• Marginal note:Where applicant ceases to have a common-law partner otherwise than by death

  (4.2) Where an application for a supplement in respect of a payment period that commences after June 30, 1999 is made by a person who at any time in the payment period ceases to have a common-law partner otherwise than by reason of the common-law partner’s death, the supplement paid to the person, for any month in that payment period after the third month following the month in which the person ceased to have a common-law partner, shall be calculated as though the person did not have a common-law partner on the last day of the previous payment period.

• Marginal note:Review of direction where statement subsequently filed by spouse or common-law partner

  (5) Where, after the Minister has made a direction under subsection (3) with respect to an application for a supplement made in respect of a payment period that ends before July 1, 1999, a statement or application as described in subsection (2) is filed by or received from the applicant’s spouse or common-law partner, the Minister may review the direction previously made and direct that any supplement paid to the applicant or the spouse or common-law partner for any month in that payment period after the month in which the review is made be calculated either on the basis that the applicant and the spouse or common-law partner were spouses or common-law partners of each other on the last day of the previous payment period or as though they had not been spouses or common-law partners on that day, according as the direction may specify.

• Marginal note:Review of direction where statement subsequently filed by spouse or common-law partner

  (5.1) Where, after the Minister has made a direction under subsection (3) based on paragraph (3)(a), with respect to an application for a supplement made in respect of a payment period that commences after June 30, 1999 and a statement or application as described in subsection (2) is filed by or received from the applicant’s spouse or common-law partner, the Minister shall review the direction previously made and shall direct that any supplement paid to the applicant or the spouse or common-law partner for months in that payment period after the month in which the review is completed be calculated on the basis that the applicant and the spouse or common-law partner were spouses or common-law partners of each other on the last day of the previous payment period, unless there is some other reason for a direction to be made under subsection (3).

• (6) [Repealed, 2000, c. 12, s. 194]

• Marginal note:Application for supplement in certain cases

  (6.1) Where an application for a supplement in respect of a payment period that commences after June 30, 1999 is made by

  • (a) a person who did not have a spouse or common-law partner immediately before a particular month in the payment period but has a spouse or common-law partner at the end of that month,

  • (b) a person in respect of whom a direction is made under subsection (3) based on paragraph (3)(b) who no longer meets the conditions set out in that paragraph, or

  • (c) a person described in subsection (4.1) who ceases to be separated from the person’s spouse,

  the calculation of the supplement shall be made, for any month after the month in which the person began to have a spouse or common-law partner, as though the person had a spouse or common-law partner on the last day of the previous payment period.

• (7) [Repealed, 2000, c. 12, s. 194]

• Marginal note:Where applicant ceases to have a spouse

  (7.1) Where an application for a supplement in respect of a payment period that commences after June 30, 1999 is made by a person who at any time in the payment period ceases to have a spouse, the supplement paid to the person, for any month in that payment period after the month in which the person ceased to have a spouse, shall be calculated as though the person did not have a spouse on the last day of the previous payment period.

• Marginal note:Where applicant ceases to have a common-law partner by reason of death

  (7.2) Where an application for a supplement in respect of a payment period that commences after June 30, 1999 is made by a person who at any time in the payment period ceases to have a common-law partner by reason of the common-law partner’s death, the supplement paid to the person, for any month in that payment period after the month in which the common-law partner died, shall be calculated as though the person did not have a common-law partner on the last day of the previous payment period.

• Marginal note:Saving provision

  (8) Nothing in subsections (6.1) to (7.2) shall be construed as limiting or restricting the authority of the Minister to make a direction under subsections (3) to (5.1).

• Marginal note:Notification of change

  (9) Every applicant shall inform the Minister without delay if they separate from, or cease to have, a spouse or common-law partner, or if they had a spouse or common-law partner at the beginning of a month, not having had a spouse or common-law partner at the beginning of the previous month.