QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Employment and Social Development
Support for Seniors
October 7, 2025
The 2024 federal budget noted that seniors’ benefits are a rapidly increasing expense. The Canada Pension Plan, or CPP, and Old Age Security, or OAS, benefits are financially important for seniors who need that income, but other well-off seniors are also collecting benefits. While the CPP is self-funded, OAS is totally unfunded.
A senior couple with a household income of over $180,000 are still able to collect almost $20,000 every year in OAS benefits, and the total elimination of the benefit only occurs at a household income of some $300,000. Payments to seniors have more than doubled since 2010, reaching over $80 billion this year and set to reach over $230 billion over the next 30 years. The unfunded OAS will put incredible financial pressure on the federal government.
Do you believe is it fair to younger generations who have to pay increased taxes to cover this cost for high-income seniors, and do you believe that this unfunded liability for the OAS is sustainable?
Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement, or GIS, have been part of the fabric of this country going back decades. They are things that our seniors rely upon and that future generations should be able to rely upon and are entitled to as well. They are an investment that we put into people and are core to our Canadian identity. This government can be trusted — and seniors know that — to respect the need for these programs and the value that they have for Canadian identity. We will continue to ensure that our public pension system properly supports Canadians through the generations.
My second question is about intergenerational fairness, comparing Old Age Security to the Canada Child Benefit. A household of two seniors over 75 can have a combined income of over $180,000 a year and still collect almost $20,000 a year in OAS benefits, but for parents receiving the Canada Child Benefit, cutbacks begin at a household income of $37,000, and the benefit is eliminated at a much lower amount than the $300,000 at which OAS is cut off.
How is that considered fair, and what is the government doing to correct this imbalance?
Personally, I would not compare apples to oranges. It is very important that we focus on the dignity of seniors and their retirement. It is also important that we continue to support parents and children, and there are many ways in which we do that. I encourage you to ask the secretary and minister those questions.
With respect to seniors, we are going to continue to ensure that pensioners — both couples and single seniors — have a dignified retirement and access to the resources they need to retire in this country.
