Old Age Security Act · GlobalLawDB

Contents

1Short title#

This Act may be cited as the Old Age Security Act.^note

2Definitions#

In this Act,

allowance means the allowance authorized to be paid under Part III; (allocation)

applicant means a person who has applied, or is deemed to have applied, for a benefit, or with respect to whom an application for a benefit has been waived; (demandeur)

application means an application for a benefit; (Version anglaise seulement)

beneficiary means a person to whom payment of a benefit has been approved; (prestataire)

benefit means a pension, supplement or allowance; (prestation)

cheque means any instrument issued in payment of a benefit; (chèque)

common-law partner, in relation to an individual, means a person who is cohabiting with the individual in a conjugal relationship at the relevant time, having so cohabited with the individual for a continuous period of at least one year. For greater certainty, in the case of an individual’s death, the “relevant time” means the time of the individual’s death; (conjoint de fait)

Consumer Price Index, with respect to any adjustment quarter, means the average for that adjustment quarter of the Consumer Price Index for Canada, as published by Statistics Canada under the authority of the Statistics Act, for each month in that adjustment quarter; (indice des prix à la consommation)

first adjustment quarter, in relation to a payment quarter, means,

(a)if the payment quarter commences on the first day of April in a payment period, the period of three months commencing on the first day of November immediately before that first day of April,

(b)if the payment quarter commences on the first day of July in a payment period, the period of three months commencing on the first day of February immediately before that first day of July,

(c)if the payment quarter commences on the first day of October in a payment period, the period of three months commencing on the first day of May immediately before that first day of October, and

(d)if the payment quarter commences on the first day of January in a payment period, the period of three months commencing on the first day of August immediately before that first day of January; (premier trimestre de rajustement)

income of a person for a calendar year means the person’s income for the year, computed in accordance with the Income Tax Act, except that

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

(i)a single amount in respect of all offices and employments of that person equal to

(A)for the purpose of determining benefits payable in respect of any month before July 2008, the lesser of $500 and one fifth of the person’s income from office or employment for the year, or

(B)for the purpose of determining benefits payable in respect of any month after June 2008 but before July 2020, the lesser of $3,500 and the person’s income from office or employment for the year,

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

(iii)the amount of employee’s contributions made by the person 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 self-employment earnings for the year

(i)the amount of contributions made in respect of those self-employed earnings by the person 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 during the year under Part VII.1 of the Employment Insurance Act,

(b.1)for the purpose of determining benefits payable in respect of any month after June 2020, there shall be deducted from a person’s combined amount — which is equal to the aggregate of the person’s income from office or employment for the year, as reduced in accordance with paragraph (a), and the person’s self-employment earnings for the year, as reduced in accordance with paragraph (b), if those reduced self-employment earnings are greater than zero — an amount that is equal to the aggregate of

(i)the lesser of $5,000 and the combined amount, and

(ii)if the combined amount is greater than $5,000, the lesser of $5,000 and half of the amount by which the combined amount exceeds $5,000,

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

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

(i.1)the amount of the payment under the program referred to in section 275 of the Budget Implementation Act, 2021, No. 1,

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

(iii)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,

(c.1)for the purpose of determining benefits payable in respect of any month after June 2022, there shall be deducted from the person’s income for the year the amount of any payment under

(i)the Canada Emergency Response Benefit Act,

(ii)Part VIII.4 of the Employment Insurance Act,

(iii)the Canada Recovery Benefits Act, and

(iv)the Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit Act,

(d)there shall be deducted from the person’s income for the year three times the amount, if any, by which

(i)the total of any amounts that may be deducted under section 121 of the Income Tax Act in computing the person’s tax payable for the year

(ii)the person’s “tax for the year otherwise payable under this Part” (within the meaning assigned by subsection 126(7) of the Income Tax Act for the purposes of paragraph 126(1)(b) of that Act) for the year, and

exceeds

(e)there shall be deducted from the person’s income for the year any amount included under paragraph 56(1)(q.1) or subsection 56(6) of the Income Tax Act and there shall be included in the person’s income for the year any amount that may be deducted under paragraph 60(y) or (z) of that Act; (revenu)

Minister means the Minister of Employment and Social Development; (ministre)

payment period, in relation to a month, means

(a)the fiscal year that includes the month, where the month is before April, 1998,

(b)the period that begins on April 1, 1998 and ends on June 30, 1999, where that period includes the month, and

(c)the period after June 30, 1999 that begins on July 1 of one year and ends on June 30 of the next year, where that period includes the month; (période de paiement)

payment quarter means a period of three months commencing on the first day of April, July, October or January in a payment period; (trimestre de paiement)

pension means a monthly pension authorized to be paid under Part I; (pension)

pensioner means a person whose application for a pension has been approved; (pensionné)

prescribed means prescribed by the regulations; (Version anglaise seulement)

release, in relation to a person who has been incarcerated, means release from custody on earned remission, at the expiry of a sentence, or on parole or statutory release that has not been terminated or revoked. (libération)

Review Tribunal [Repealed, 2012, c. 19, s. 235]

second adjustment quarter, in relation to a payment quarter, means,

(a)if the payment quarter commences on the first day of April in a payment period, the period of three months commencing on the first day of August immediately before that first day of April,

(b)if the payment quarter commences on the first day of July in a payment period, the period of three months commencing on the first day of November immediately before that first day of July,

(c)if the payment quarter commences on the first day of October in a payment period, the period of three months commencing on the first day of February immediately before that first day of October, and

(d)if the payment quarter commences on the first day of January in a payment period, the period of three months commencing on the first day of May immediately before that first day of January; (second trimestre de rajustement)

special qualifying factor of a person for a month before April 1996 means one and for a month after March 1996 means

(a)one, where the person is not a specially qualified individual, and

(b)where the person is a specially qualified individual, the fraction of which

(i)the numerator is the aggregate period (expressed in the number of years and, where the number of years is not a whole number, rounded down to the next lower whole number) as of the last day of the immediately preceding month, during which the individual has resided in Canada after attaining eighteen years of age, and

(ii)the denominator is 10; (facteur d’admissibilité)

specially qualified individual means a person who has not resided in Canada after attaining eighteen years of age for an aggregate period of ten or more years other than such a person to whom a pension or allowance was payable

(a)for the month of March 1996 or an earlier month, or

(b)for the month of January 2001 or an earlier month, where, before March 7, 1996, the person was residing in Canada as a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident within the meaning of subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act; (particulier déterminé)

spouse [Repealed, 2000, c. 12, s. 192]

spouse’s allowance [Repealed, 2000, c. 12, s. 192]

supplement means a monthly guaranteed income supplement authorized to be paid under Part II; (supplément)

survivor means a person whose spouse or common-law partner has died and who has not thereafter become the spouse or common-law partner of another person. (survivant)

widow [Repealed, 2000, c. 12, s. 192]

^note

2.1Amount of full monthly pension#

(1)In this Act, a reference to the amount of a full monthly pension means the amount of a full monthly pension, as it is calculated in accordance with section 7, that has not been increased under subsection 7.1(1) or (2).

(2)The terms pensioner’s monthly pension in subsections 12(5) and 22(2) and pension in subsection 12(5.1) mean, respectively, a pensioner’s monthly pension and a pension that have not been increased under subsection 7.1(1) or (2).

^note

2.2 #

[Repealed, 2016, c. 7, s. 188] (repealed)

Part I · Monthly Pension

Pension Payable

3Payment of full pension#

(1)Subject to this Act and the regulations, a full monthly pension may be paid to

(a)every person who was a pensioner on July 1, 1977;

(b)every person who

(i)on July 1, 1977 was not a pensioner but had attained twenty-five years of age and resided in Canada or, if that person did not reside in Canada, had resided in Canada for any period after attaining eighteen years of age or possessed a valid immigration visa,

(ii)has attained sixty-five years of age, and

(iii)has resided in Canada for the ten years immediately preceding the day on which that person’s application is approved or, if that person has not so resided, has, after attaining eighteen years of age, been present in Canada prior to those ten years for an aggregate period at least equal to three times the aggregate periods of absence from Canada during those ten years, and has resided in Canada for at least one year immediately preceding the day on which that person’s application is approved; and

(c)every person who

(i)was not a pensioner on July 1, 1977,

(ii)has attained sixty-five years of age, and

(iii)has resided in Canada after attaining eighteen years of age and prior to the day on which that person’s application is approved for an aggregate period of at least forty years.

(2)Subject to this Act and the regulations, a partial monthly pension may be paid for any month in a payment quarter to every person who is not eligible for a full monthly pension under subsection (1) and

(a)has attained sixty-five years of age; and

(b)has resided in Canada after attaining eighteen years of age and prior to the day on which that person’s application is approved for an aggregate period of at least ten years but less than forty years and, where that aggregate period is less than twenty years, was resident in Canada on the day preceding the day on which that person’s application is approved.

(3)Subject to subsection 7.1(3), the amount of a partial monthly pension, for any month, shall bear the same relation to the amount of the full monthly pension for that month as the aggregate period that the applicant has resided in Canada after attaining 18 years of age and before the day on which the application is approved, determined in accordance with subsection (4), bears to 40 years.

(4)For the purpose of calculating the amount of a partial monthly pension under subsection (3), the aggregate period described in that subsection shall be rounded to the lower multiple of a year when it is not a multiple of a year.

(5)Once a person’s application for a partial monthly pension has been approved, the amount of monthly pension payable to that person under this Part may not be increased on the basis of subsequent periods of residence in Canada.

^note

4Residence in Canada must be or have been legal#

(1)A person who was not a pensioner on July 1, 1977 is eligible for a pension under this Part only if

(a)on the day preceding the day on which that person’s application is approved that person is a Canadian citizen or, if not, is legally resident in Canada; or

(b)on the day preceding the day that person ceased to reside in Canada that person was a Canadian citizen or, if not, was legally resident in Canada.

(2)The Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the meaning of legal residence for the purposes of subsection (1).

^note

4.1Presumption#

If the Minister intends to waive the requirement for an application in respect of a person under subsection 5(4) and the information available to the Minister under this Act with respect to that person includes the prescribed information, the person is presumed, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, to have met the requirements of

(a)subparagraph 3(1)(b)(iii) or (c)(iii) or paragraph 3(2)(b); or

(b)paragraph 4(1)(a) or (b).

^note

5Limitations#

(1)No pension may be paid to any person unless that person is qualified under subsection 3(1) or (2), an application therefor has been made by or on behalf of that person and the application has been approved, and, except as provided in this Act, no pension may be paid to any person in respect of any period prior to the day on which that person’s application is approved.

(2)Where an allowance ceases to be payable to a person by reason of that person having reached sixty-five years of age, the Minister may deem an application under subsection (1) to have been made by that person and approved, on the day on which the person reached that age.

(3)No pension may be paid in respect of a period of incarceration — exclusive of the first month of that period — to a person who is subject to a sentence of imprisonment

(a)that is to be served in a penitentiary by virtue of any Act of Parliament; or

(b)that exceeds 90 days and is to be served in a prison, as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Prisons and Reformatories Act, if the government of the province in which the prison is located has entered into an agreement under section 41 of the Department of Employment and Social Development Act.

(4)The Minister may, on the day on which a person attains 65 years of age, waive the requirement referred to in subsection (1) for an application if the Minister is satisfied, based on information that is available to him or her under this Act, that the person is qualified under subsection 3(1) or (2) for the payment of a pension.

(5)If the Minister intends to waive the requirement for an application in respect of a person, the Minister shall notify the person in writing of that intention and provide them with the information on which the Minister intends to rely to approve the payment of a pension.

(6)The person shall, before the day on which they attain 65 years of age, file with the Minister a statement in which the person corrects any inaccuracies in the information provided by the Minister under subsection (5).

(7)The person may, before the day on which they attain 65 years of age, decline a waiver of the requirement for an application by notifying the Minister in writing of their decision to do so.

(8)Even if the requirement for an application is intended to be waived in respect of a person under subsection (4), the Minister may, before the day on which the person attains 65 years of age, require that the person make an application for payment of a pension and, in that case, the Minister shall notify the person in writing of that requirement.

^note

5.1Withdrawal of application#

(1)An applicant may withdraw an application for a pension by giving a written notice of their withdrawal to the Minister at any time before payment of the pension commences.

(2)If an application for a pension is withdrawn under subsection (1), the withdrawn application shall not after that time be used for the purpose of determining the applicant’s eligibility for a pension.

^note

Information from Statistics Canada

6Census statistics#

Subject to the conditions specified in the regulations, the Minister is entitled, for the purpose of ascertaining the age of any pensioner or any applicant for a pension, to obtain from Statistics Canada, on request, any information respecting the age of a pensioner or applicant that is contained in the returns of any census taken more than thirty years before the date of the request.^note

Amount of Pension

7Basic amount of full pension#

(1)The amount of the full monthly pension that may be paid to any person for a month in the payment quarter commencing on January 1, 1985 is two hundred and seventy-three dollars and eighty cents.

(2)Where a full monthly pension has been authorized to be paid to a person, the amount of the pension shall be adjusted quarterly, in such manner as may be prescribed by regulation, so that the amount that may be paid to that person for a month in any payment quarter commencing after March 31, 1985 is the amount obtained by multiplying

(a)the amount of the pension that might have been paid to that person for a month in the three month period immediately before that payment quarterby

(b)the ratio that the Consumer Price Index for the first adjustment quarter that relates to that payment quarter bears to the Consumer Price Index for the second adjustment quarter that relates to that payment quarter.

(3)Notwithstanding subsection (2), the amount of a full monthly pension that may be paid to a pensioner for any month in a payment quarter shall be not less than the amount of the full monthly pension that was or may be paid to a pensioner for any month in the three month period immediately before that payment quarter.

(4)Where, in relation to any payment quarter, the Consumer Price Index for the first adjustment quarter is lower than the Consumer Price Index for the second adjustment quarter,

(a)no pension adjustment shall be made pursuant to subsection (2) in respect of that payment quarter; and

(b)no pension adjustment shall be made pursuant to that subsection in respect of any subsequent payment quarter until, in relation to a subsequent payment quarter, the Consumer Price Index for the first adjustment quarter that relates to that subsequent payment quarter is higher than the Consumer Price Index for the second adjustment quarter that relates to the payment quarter referred to in paragraph (a), in which case the second adjustment quarter that relates to the payment quarter referred to in that paragraph shall be deemed to be the second adjustment quarter that relates to that subsequent payment quarter.

(5)Beginning in the payment quarter commencing on July 1, 2022, for the period that begins in the month after the month in which a person attains 75 years of age, the amount of the full monthly pension, as it is calculated in accordance with subsections (1) to (4), is increased by 10%.

^note

7.1Voluntary deferral — full monthly pension#

(1)If a person applies for their pension after they become qualified to receive a full monthly pension, the amount of that pension, as it is calculated in accordance with subsections 7(1) to (4), is increased by 0.6% for each month in the period that begins in the month after the month in which the person becomes qualified for that pension and that ends in the month in which the person’s application is approved.

(2)If a person applies for their pension after they become qualified to receive a partial monthly pension, the amount of that pension, as it is calculated in accordance with subsection 3(3) without regard to subsection 7(5), at the time that they become qualified for that pension, is increased by 0.6% for each month in the period that begins in the month after that time and that ends in the month in which the person’s application is approved.

(3)A person who is qualified to receive a monthly pension shall, unless they decide otherwise, receive the greatest of the following amounts:

(a)the amount of the full monthly pension as it is increased under subsection (1), if the person is qualified to receive a full monthly pension,

(b)the amount of the partial monthly pension as it is increased under subsection (2), and

(c)the amount of the partial monthly pension as it is calculated under subsection 3(3) at the time that the person’s application is approved.

(4)Despite subsections (1) and (2), the amount of a pension is not increased for any month

(a)before July 2013;

(b)after the month in which the person attains 70 years of age; or

(c)in which the person’s pension would not be paid by virtue of subsection 5(3), or would be suspended under subsection 9(1) or (3), if the person were a pensioner.

(5)Beginning in the payment quarter commencing on July 1, 2022, for the period that begins in the month after the month in which a person attains 75 years of age, the amount of the full monthly pension, as it is increased under subsection (1), is increased by 10%.

(6)Beginning in the payment quarter commencing on July 1, 2022, for the period that begins in the month after the month in which a person attains 75 years of age, the amount of the partial monthly pension, as it is increased under subsection (2), is increased by 10%.

^note

Payment of Pension

8Commencement of pension#

(1)Payment of pension to any person shall commence in the first month after the application therefor has been approved, but where an application is approved after the last day of the month in which it was received, the approval may be effective as of such earlier date, not prior to the day on which the application was received, as may be prescribed by regulation.

(2)Notwithstanding subsection (1), where a person who has applied to receive a pension attained the age of sixty-five years before the day on which the application was received, the approval of the application may be effective as of such earlier day, not before the later of

(a)a day one year before the day on which the application was received, and

(b)the day on which the applicant attained the age of sixty-five years,

as may be prescribed by regulation.

(2.1)Despite subsection (1), if the application by a person described in subsection 5(3) is approved while that person is incarcerated, payment of their pension shall commence in respect of the month in which they are released but only after they notify the Minister in writing before or after their release.

(3)Subject to this Act, the pension shall continue to be paid during the lifetime of the pensioner and shall cease with the payment for the month in which the pensioner dies.

^note

9Suspension of pension where pensioner leaves Canada#

(1)Where a pensioner, having left Canada either before or after becoming a pensioner, has remained outside Canada after becoming a pensioner for six consecutive months, exclusive of the month in which the pensioner left Canada, payment of the pension for any period the pensioner continues to be absent from Canada after those six months shall be suspended, but payment may be resumed with the month in which the pensioner returns to Canada.

(2)In the circumstances described in subsection (1), payment of the pension may be continued without suspension for any period the pensioner remains outside Canada if the pensioner establishes that at the time the pensioner left Canada the pensioner had resided in Canada for at least twenty years after attaining the age of eighteen years.

(3)Where a pensioner ceases to reside in Canada, whether before or after becoming a pensioner, payment of the pension shall be suspended six months after the end of the month in which the pensioner ceased to reside in Canada, but payment may be resumed with the month in which the pensioner resumes residence in Canada.

(4)In the circumstances described in subsection (3), payment of the pension may be continued without suspension if the pensioner establishes that at the time the pensioner ceased to reside in Canada the pensioner had resided in Canada for at least twenty years after attaining the age of eighteen years.

(5)Where a pensioner fails to comply with any of the provisions of this Act or the regulations, payment of the pension may be suspended, and where a pension is so suspended, payment may be resumed when the pensioner has complied with those provisions.

^note

9.1Request that pension cease to be payable#

(1)Any pensioner may make a request to the Minister in writing that their pension cease to be payable.

(2)A pension shall cease to be payable on the last day of the month in which the Minister approves a request under subsection (1).

(3)A pensioner whose pension has ceased to be payable under subsection (2) may make a request in writing to the Minister that their pension be reinstated.

(4)A pension shall be reinstated and payment shall commence in the month following the month in which the Minister receives a request under subsection (3) or in the month chosen by the pensioner in the request, whichever is later.

^note

9.2Resumption of pension#

Payment of a pension that is suspended by virtue of subsection 5(3) shall resume in respect of the month in which a pensioner is released but only after they notify the Minister in writing before or after their release.^note

9.3Request to cancel pension#

(1)A pensioner may, in the prescribed manner and within the prescribed time after payment of a pension has commenced, request cancellation of that pension.

(2)If the request is granted and the amount of any pension and related supplement and allowance is repaid within the prescribed time,

(a)the application for that pension is deemed never to have been made; and

(b)the pension is deemed for the purposes of this Act not to have been payable during the period in question.

^note

Part II · Monthly Guaranteed Income Supplement

Interpretation

10Definitions#

The definitions in this section apply in this Part.

base calendar year means the last calendar year ending before the current payment period. (année de référence)

current payment period means the payment period in respect of which an application for a supplement is made by an applicant. (période de paiement en cours)

previous payment period means the payment period immediately before the current payment period. (période de paiement précédente)

^note

Supplement Payable

11Supplement payable#

(1)Subject to this Part and the regulations, for each month in any payment period, a monthly guaranteed income supplement may be paid to a pensioner.

(2)Subject to subsections (3.1) and (4), no supplement may be paid to a pensioner for a month in any payment period unless an application for payment of a supplement has been made by the pensioner and payment of the supplement for months in that year has been approved under this Part.

(3)Where an allowance ceases to be payable to a person by reason of that person having reached sixty-five years of age, the Minister may deem an application under subsection (2) to have been made by that person and approved, on the day on which the person reached that age.

(3.1)The Minister may, in respect of a person, waive the requirement referred to in subsection (2) for an application for payment of a supplement for any month or months in a payment period if, on the day on which the person attains 65 years of age, the Minister is satisfied, based on information available to him or her under this Act, that the person is qualified under this section for the payment of a supplement.

(3.2)If the Minister intends to waive the requirement for an application in respect of a person under subsection (3.1), the Minister shall notify the person in writing of that intention and provide them with the information on which the Minister intends to rely to approve the payment of a supplement.

(3.3)The person shall, before the day on which they attain 65 years of age, file with the Minister a statement in which the person corrects any inaccuracies in the information provided by the Minister under subsection (3.2).

(3.4)The person may, before the day on which they attain 65 years of age, decline a waiver of the requirement for an application by notifying the Minister in writing of their decision to do so.

(3.5)Even if the requirement for an application is intended to be waived in respect of a person under subsection (3.1), the Minister may, before the day on which the person attains 65 years of age, require that the person make an application for payment of a supplement and, in that case, the Minister shall notify the person in writing of that requirement.

(4)The Minister may waive the requirement referred to in subsection (2) for an application for payment of a supplement for any month or months in a payment period if an application for payment of a supplement has been made in respect of any payment period before that payment period.

(5)Where the requirement for an application for payment of a supplement for any month or months in a payment period has been waived under subsection (4) and an application is required for payment of a supplement for any subsequent month or months in that payment period, the Minister shall, not later than fifteen days before that subsequent month or the first of those subsequent months, notify the pensioner in writing that an application is required.

(6)Notwithstanding that the requirement for an application for payment of a supplement for any month or months has been waived under subsection (4), the Minister may require that the pensioner make an application for payment of a supplement for that month or for any of those months, and in such a case, the Minister shall, not later than fifteen days before that month or the first of those months, notify the pensioner in writing that an application is required.

(7)No supplement may be paid to a pensioner for

(a)any month that is more than eleven months before the month in which the application is received or is deemed to have been made or in which the requirement for an application has been waived, as the case may be;

(b)any month for which no pension may be paid to the pensioner;

(c)any month throughout which the pensioner is absent from Canada having commenced to be absent from Canada either before or after becoming a pensioner and having remained outside Canada before that month for six consecutive months, exclusive of the month in which the pensioner left Canada;

(d)any month throughout which the pensioner is not resident in Canada, having ceased to reside in Canada, either before or after becoming a pensioner, six months before the beginning of that month; or

(e)any month during which the pensioner is a person in respect of whom an undertaking by a sponsor is in effect as provided under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

(8)Paragraph (7)(e) does not apply

(a)to a person who was qualified to receive a pension or an allowance immediately before the day on which this paragraph comes into force, whether or not they had applied for it; or

(b)to a pensioner if an event as provided by the regulations has occurred.

^note

Amount of Supplement

12Amounts on April 1, 2005#

(1)The amount of the supplement that may be paid to a pensioner for any month in the payment quarter commencing on April 1, 2005 is,

(a)in the case of a person other than a person described in paragraph (b), five hundred and sixty-two dollars and ninety-three cents, and

(b)in the case of a person who, on the day immediately before that payment quarter, had a spouse or common-law partner to whom a pension may be paid for any month in that payment quarter,

(i)in respect of any month in that payment quarter before the first month for which a pension may be paid to the spouse or common-law partner, five hundred and sixty-two dollars and ninety-three cents, and

(ii)in respect of any month in that payment quarter commencing with the first month for which a pension may be paid to the spouse or common-law partner, three hundred and sixty-six dollars and sixty-seven cents,

minus one dollar for each full two dollars of the pensioner’s monthly base income.

(1.1)The amount of the supplement that may be paid to a pensioner for any month in the payment quarter commencing on January 1, 2006 is the amount of the supplement that would otherwise be payable plus

(a)eighteen dollars, in the case of a person described in paragraph (1)(a) or subparagraph (1)(b)(i); and

(b)fourteen dollars and fifty cents, in the case of a person described in subparagraph (1)(b)(ii).

(1.2)The amount of the supplement that may be paid to a pensioner for any month in the payment quarter commencing on January 1, 2007 is the amount of the supplement that would otherwise be payable plus

(a)eighteen dollars, in the case of a person described in paragraph (1)(a) or subparagraph (1)(b)(i); and

(b)fourteen dollars and fifty cents, in the case of a person described subparagraph (1)(b)(ii).

(2)Subject to subsections (1.1) and (1.2), the amount of the supplement that may be paid to a pensioner for any month in any payment quarter commencing after June 30, 2005 is the amount obtained by multiplying

(a)the maximum amount of the supplement that might have been paid to the pensioner for any month in the three-month period immediately before that payment quarter

byminus one dollar for each full two dollars of the pensioner’s monthly base income.

(3)Notwithstanding subsection (2), the maximum amount of the supplement that may be paid to a pensioner for any month in a payment quarter shall be not less than the maximum amount of the supplement that was or may be paid to a pensioner for any month in the three month period immediately before that payment quarter.

(4)Where, in relation to any payment quarter, the Consumer Price Index for the first adjustment quarter is lower than the Consumer Price Index for the second adjustment quarter,

(a)no supplement adjustment shall be made pursuant to subsection (2) in respect of that payment quarter; and

(b)no supplement adjustment shall be made pursuant to that subsection in respect of any subsequent payment quarter until, in relation to a subsequent payment quarter, the Consumer Price Index for the first adjustment quarter that relates to that subsequent payment quarter is higher than the Consumer Price Index for the second adjustment quarter that relates to the payment quarter referred to in paragraph (a), in which case the second adjustment quarter that relates to the payment quarter referred to in that paragraph shall be deemed to be the second adjustment quarter that relates to that subsequent payment quarter.

(5)Despite subsection (2), the amount of the supplement that may be paid to a pensioner for any month after December 1997 is the amount determined by the formula

(5.1)Where the aggregate of the pensions and supplements payable for a month to two pensioners each of whom is the other’s spouse or common-law partner is less than the aggregate of the pension and supplement that would be payable for that month to one of them if the other were not a pensioner, the Minister may, notwithstanding subsection (2), pay to one of them for that month

(a)the amount of supplement that would be payable for that month to that pensioner, if the other were not a pensioner,

(b)the aggregate of the pension and supplement payable for that month to the other.

minus

(6)In this section, monthly base income means, in relation to the calculation of the supplement for a month in any given payment quarter,

(a)in the case of a person other than an applicant described in paragraph (b) or (c), one-twelfth of the income of that person for the base calendar year;

(b)in the case of an applicant who, on the day immediately before the current payment period, was the spouse or common-law partner of a person to whom no pension may be paid for any month in the current payment period, the amount determined by the formula

(c)in the case of an applicant who, on the day immediately before the current payment period, was the spouse or common-law partner of a person to whom a pension may be paid for any month in the payment period,

(i)in respect of any month in the current payment period before the first month for which a pension may be paid to the spouse or common-law partner, the amount determined for the applicant for the month under paragraph (b), and

(ii)in respect of any month in that payment period commencing with the first month for which a pension may be paid to the spouse or common-law partner, one twenty-fourth of the aggregate of the incomes of the applicant and the spouse or common-law partner for the base calendar year.

^note

12.1Additional amount — paragraph 12(1)(a)#

(1)The amount that may be added to the amount of the supplement that may be paid under section 12 to a pensioner referred to in paragraph 12(1)(a) for any month in a payment quarter beginning after June 30, 2011 is the amount determined by the formula

(2)The amount that may be added to the amount of the supplement that may be paid under section 12 to a pensioner referred to in paragraph 12(1)(b) for any month in a payment quarter beginning after June 30, 2011 is the amount determined by the formula

(2.1)For any month in the payment quarter beginning on July 1, 2016,

(a)the amount determined for A in subsection (1) is the amount that would otherwise have been determined for A in that subsection for any month in that payment quarter plus $78.92; and

(b)the amount determined for A in subsection (2) in the case set out in paragraph (a) of A in that subsection is the amount that would otherwise have been determined in that case for A in that subsection for any month in that payment quarter plus $78.92.

(3)Subject to subsection (2.1), for the purpose of calculating the amount payable under subsection (1) or (2) for any month in a payment quarter beginning after September 30, 2011, the amount to be determined for A in that subsection is the amount obtained by multiplying

(a)the amount determined for A for any month in the three-month period immediately before that payment quarter

(4)Despite subsection (3), the amount determined for A for any month in a payment quarter shall not be less than the amount determined for A for any month in the three-month period immediately before that payment quarter.

(5)If, in relation to any payment quarter, the Consumer Price Index for the first adjustment quarter is lower than the Consumer Price Index for the second adjustment quarter,

(a)no adjustment to the amount determined for A shall be made under subsection (3) in respect of that payment quarter; and

(b)no adjustment to the amount determined for A shall be made under subsection (3) in respect of any subsequent payment quarter until, in relation to a subsequent payment quarter, the Consumer Price Index for the first adjustment quarter that relates to that subsequent payment quarter is higher than the Consumer Price Index for the second adjustment quarter that relates to the payment quarter referred to in paragraph (a), in which case the second adjustment quarter that relates to the payment quarter referred to in that paragraph is deemed to be the second adjustment quarter that relates to that subsequent payment quarter.

^note

Calculation of Income

13Calculation of income#

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.

^note

Statement or Estimate of Income

14Statement of income to be made#

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

^note

Spouses and Common-law Partners

15Information required with application for supplement#

(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.

(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.

(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).

(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).

(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.

(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.

(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).

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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] (repealed)

(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] (repealed)

(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.

(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.

(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).

(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.

^note

Payment of Supplement

16Consideration of application or waiver#

(1)The Minister shall, without delay after receiving an application for payment of a supplement under subsection 11(2) or after waiving the requirement for an application for payment of a supplement under subsection 11(3.1) or (4), as the case may be, consider whether the applicant is entitled to be paid a supplement, and may approve payment of a supplement and fix its amount, or may determine that no supplement may be paid.

(2)Where particulars of the basis on which the amount of any supplement that may be paid to an applicant was fixed by the Minister are requested by the applicant or where the Minister determines that no supplement may be paid to the applicant, the Minister shall forthwith in writing notify the applicant of the basis on which that amount was fixed or of the decision that no supplement may be paid to the applicant and the Minister’s reasons therefor, as the case may be.

^note

17Payment of supplement to be made in arrears#

Payment of a supplement for any month shall be made in arrears at the end of the month, except that where payment of a supplement in respect of months in any payment period is approved after the end of the month for which the first payment of the supplement may be made, payments of the supplement for the month in which payment of the supplement is approved and for months before that month may be made at the end of that month or at the end of the month immediately after that month.^note

Adjustment of Payments

18Adjustment of payments of supplements#

Where it is determined that the income for a base calendar year (in this section referred to as the “actual income”) of an applicant for a supplement does not accord with the income of the applicant (in this section referred to as the “shown income”) calculated on the basis of a statement or an estimate made under section 14, the following adjustments shall be made:

(a)if the actual income exceeds the shown income, any amount by which the supplement paid to the applicant for months in the payment period exceeds the supplement that would have been paid to the applicant for those months if the shown income had been equal to the actual income shall be deducted and retained out of any subsequent payments of supplement or pension made to the applicant, in any manner that may be prescribed; and

(b)if the shown income exceeds the actual income, there shall be paid to the applicant any amount by which the supplement that would have been paid to the applicant for months in the payment period if the actual income had been equal to the shown income exceeds the supplement paid to the applicant for those months.

^note

Cessation of Payment

18.1Request that supplement cease to be payable#

If a pensioner makes a request to the Minister in writing that their supplement cease to be payable, it shall cease to be payable on the last day of the month in which the Minister approves the request and shall not resume until the later of the month after the month in which the Minister receives a new application for the supplement and the month chosen by the pensioner in the application.^note

Cancellation of Payment

18.2Request to cancel supplement#

(1)A pensioner may, in the prescribed manner and within the prescribed time after payment of a supplement has commenced, request cancellation of that supplement.

(2)If the request is granted and the amount of any supplement and related allowance is repaid within the prescribed time,

(a)the application for that supplement is deemed never to have been made; and

(b)the supplement is deemed for the purposes of this Act not to have been payable during the period in question.

^note

Part III · Monthly Allowances

Allowance Payable

19Payment of allowance#

(1)Subject to this Act and the regulations, an allowance may be paid to the spouse, common-law partner or former common-law partner of a pensioner for a month in a payment period if the spouse, common-law partner or former common-law partner, as the case may be,

(a)in the case of a spouse, is not separated from the pensioner, or has separated from the pensioner where the separation commenced after June 30, 1999 and not more than three months before the month in the payment period;

(a.1)in the case of a former common-law partner, has separated from the pensioner where the separation commenced after June 30, 1999 and not more than three months before the month in the payment period;

(b)in the case of a spouse, common-law partner or former common-law partner, has attained sixty years of age but has not attained sixty-five years of age; and

(c)in the case of a spouse, common-law partner or former common-law partner, has resided in Canada after attaining eighteen years of age and prior to the day on which their application is approved for an aggregate period of at least ten years and, where that aggregate period is less than twenty years, was resident in Canada on the day preceding the day on which their application is approved.

(1.1)For the purposes of subsection (1), common-law partners do not become former common-law partners if the sole reason for their separation is that one of the partners is an incarcerated person described in subsection 5(3) or paragraph 19(6)(f).

(1.2)For the purposes of paragraph (1)(a), a spouse is not considered to be separated from the pensioner if the sole reason for the separation is that the pensioner is an incarcerated person described in subsection 5(3).

(2)A person is eligible for an allowance under this section only if

(a)on the day preceding the day on which that person’s application for an allowance is approved that person is a Canadian citizen or, if not, is legally resident in Canada; or

(b)on the day preceding the day that person ceased to reside in Canada that person was a Canadian citizen or, if not, was legally resident in Canada.

(3)The Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the meaning of legal residence for the purposes of subsection (2).

(4)Subject to subsection (4.1), no allowance may be paid under this section to the spouse or common-law partner of a pensioner in any payment period unless a joint application of the pensioner and the spouse or common-law partner, or an application described in section 30, has been made for payment of an allowance in respect of that payment period and payment of the allowance has been approved under this Part.

(4.01)If the pensioner is an incarcerated person described in subsection 5(3), their spouse or common-law partner may apply for an allowance individually and, for the purposes of subsection (4), that application shall be considered and dealt with as though it were a joint application of the pensioner and the spouse or common-law partner.

(4.1)The Minister may waive the requirement referred to in subsection (4) for an application for payment of an allowance for any month or months in a payment period if an application for payment of an allowance has been made in respect of any payment period before that payment period.

(4.2)Where the requirement for an application for any month or months in a payment period has been waived under subsection (4.1) and an application is required for payment of an allowance for any subsequent month or months in that payment period, the Minister shall, not later than fifteen days before that subsequent month or the first of those subsequent months, notify the spouse or common-law partner in writing that an application is required.

(4.3)Notwithstanding that the requirement for an application for any month or months has been waived under subsection (4.1), the Minister may require that an application referred to in subsection (4) be made for payment of an allowance for that month or for any of those months, and in such a case, the Minister shall, not later than fifteen days before that month or the first of those months, notify the spouse or common-law partner in writing that an application is required.

(5)An allowance under this section ceases to be payable on the expiration of the month in which the spouse, common-law partner or former common-law partner in respect of whom it is paid dies, becomes the spouse or common-law partner of another person, or no longer meets the conditions set out in subsection (1).

(6)No allowance may be paid under this section to the spouse or common-law partner of a pensioner pursuant to an application therefor for

(a)any month that is more than 11 months before the month in which the application is received or is deemed to have been made or in which the requirement for an application has been waived, as the case may be;

(b)any month for which no supplement may be paid to the pensioner;

(c)any month throughout which the spouse or common-law partner is absent from Canada, having left Canada either before or after becoming entitled to an allowance under this Part and having remained outside Canada before that month for six consecutive months, exclusive of the month in which he left Canada;

(d)any month during which the spouse or common-law partner is a person in respect of whom an undertaking by a sponsor is in effect as provided under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act;

(e)in the case of a common-law partner who was not a spouse immediately before the coming into force of this paragraph (“spouse” having in this paragraph the meaning that it had immediately before that coming into force), notwithstanding subsection 23(2), any month before the month in which this paragraph comes into force; or

(f)any period of incarceration — exclusive of the first month of that period — during which the spouse or common-law partner is subject to a sentence of imprisonment

(i)that is to be served in a penitentiary by virtue of any Act of Parliament, or

(ii)that exceeds 90 days and is to be served in a prison, as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Prisons and Reformatories Act, if the government of the province in which the prison is located has entered into an agreement under section 41 of the Department of Employment and Social Development Act.

(6.1)Paragraph (6)(b) does not apply to a spouse or common-law partner of a pensioner in respect of a month for which a supplement would be payable to the pensioner if

(a)the special qualifying factor of that pensioner for that month were equal to one; or

(b)the pensioner were not precluded from receiving a supplement by virtue of the application of subsection 5(3).

(6.2)Paragraph (6)(d) does not apply to a spouse or common-law partner

(a)who was qualified to receive an allowance immediately before the day on which this paragraph comes into force, whether or not they had applied for it; or

(b)if an event as provided by the regulations has occurred.

(6.3)Payment of an allowance that is suspended by virtue of paragraph (6)(f) shall resume in respect of the month in which the spouse or common-law partner is released but only if they

(a)have notified the Minister in writing before or after their release; and

(b)continue to be eligible for an allowance.

(7)The amount of the allowance that may be paid under this section to the spouse or common-law partner of a pensioner shall be determined in accordance with subsection 22(3).

(8)If an application has been made under subsection (4) for payment of an allowance to a pensioner’s spouse or common-law partner in respect of any payment period, the Minister may, after any investigation of the circumstances that he or she considers necessary, direct that for the purpose of calculating the allowance, the monthly joint income, as defined in subsection 22(1), be determined without taking into account the pensioner’s income for the base calendar year in any case where the Minister is satisfied that the spouse or common-law partner, as a result of circumstances not attributable to the pensioner or the spouse or common-law partner, was not living with the pensioner in a dwelling maintained by one or the other of them at the time the application was made.

(9)A direction made under subsection (8) 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 he or she considers necessary, cancel the direction.

^note

20Failure to comply with Act#

Payment of an allowance under section 19 or 21 may be suspended if the beneficiary fails to comply with any of the provisions of this Act or the regulations, but payment may be resumed when the beneficiary complies with those provisions.^note

21Payment of allowance to survivors#

(1)Subject to this Act and the regulations, for each month in any payment period, an allowance may be paid to a survivor who

(a)has attained sixty years of age but has not attained sixty-five years of age; and

(b)has resided in Canada after attaining eighteen years of age and prior to the day on which their application is approved for an aggregate period of at least ten years and, where that aggregate period is less than twenty years, was resident in Canada on the day preceding the day on which their application is approved.

(2)A survivor is eligible for an allowance under this section only if

(a)on the day preceding the day on which their application for an allowance is approved they are a Canadian citizen or, if not, are legally resident in Canada; or

(b)on the day preceding the day they ceased to reside in Canada they were a Canadian citizen or, if not, were legally resident in Canada.

(3)The Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the meaning of legal residence for the purposes of subsection (2).

(4)Subject to subsections (5) and (5.1), no allowance may be paid to a survivor under this section in any payment period unless the survivor has made an application for an allowance in respect of that payment period and payment of the allowance has been approved under this Part.

(5)Where the spouses or the common-law partners had, before the death of the pensioner, made a joint application for the allowance under section 19 for months in the payment period of the pensioner’s death or the following payment period, no application is required to be made by the pensioner’s survivor under subsection (4) in respect of the payment of an allowance under this section for months in the payment period in respect of which the joint application was made.

(5.1)The Minister may waive the requirement referred to in subsection (4) for an application for payment of an allowance for any month or months in a payment period if an application for payment of an allowance has been made in respect of any payment period before that payment period.

(5.2)Where the requirement for an application for payment of an allowance for any month or months in a payment period has been waived under subsection (5.1) and an application is required for payment of an allowance for any subsequent month or months in that payment period, the Minister shall, not later than fifteen days before that subsequent month or the first of those subsequent months, notify the survivor in writing that an application is required.

(5.3)Notwithstanding that the requirement for an application for payment of an allowance for any month or months has been waived under subsection (5.1), the Minister may require that the survivor make such an application for that month or for any of those months, and in such a case, the Minister shall, not later than fifteen days before that month or the first of those months, notify the survivor in writing that an application is required.

(6)An allowance may be paid under this section commencing with the month following the month in which the applicant becomes a survivor or attains sixty years of age, whichever is later.

(7)Notwithstanding subsections (6) and 23(2), no allowance may be paid under this section for any month prior to September, 1985.

(7.1)In the case of a survivor who was not a widow immediately before the coming into force of this subsection (“widow” having in this subsection the meaning that it had immediately before that coming into force),

(a)no allowance may be paid under this section unless the survivor became a survivor on or after January 1, 1998; and

(b)no allowance may be paid under this section for any month before the month in which this subsection comes into force.

(8)An allowance under this section ceases to be payable on the expiration of the month in which the survivor in respect of whom it is paid dies, attains sixty-five years of age or ceases to be a survivor.

(9)No allowance may be paid under this section to a survivor pursuant to an application therefor for

(a)any month more than 11 months before the month in which the application is received or is deemed to have been made or in which the requirement for an application has been waived, as the case may be;

(b)any month throughout which the survivor is absent from Canada, having absented themself from Canada either before or after becoming entitled to an allowance under this Part and having remained out of Canada before that month for six consecutive months, exclusive of the month in which they left Canada; or

(c)any month during which the survivor is a person in respect of whom an undertaking by a sponsor is in effect as provided under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act; or

(d)any period of incarceration — exclusive of the first month of that period — during which the survivor is subject to a sentence of imprisonment

(i)that is to be served in a penitentiary by virtue of any Act of Parliament, or

(9.1)Paragraph (9)(c) does not apply to a survivor

(a)who was qualified to receive an allowance immediately before the day on which this paragraph comes into force, whether or not they had applied for it; or

(b)if an event as provided by the regulations has occurred.

(9.2)Payment of an allowance suspended by virtue of paragraph (9)(d) shall resume in respect of the month in which the survivor is released but only if they

(a)have notified the Minister in writing before or after their release; and

(b)continue to be eligible for an allowance.

(10)The amount of the allowance that may be paid under this section to a survivor shall be determined in accordance with subsection 22(4).

(11)Where subsection (5) applies, subsection (10) also applies in respect of months in the payment period in respect of which the joint application was made and that are after the pensioner’s death.

(12)A person’s eligibility for an allowance under this section in respect of a deceased spouse or common-law partner is not affected by the eligibility of another person for an allowance under this section in respect of that deceased spouse or common-law partner.

^note

21.1Allowance not payable#

(1)Despite section 21, an allowance under that section is not payable to an individual who otherwise would have been entitled to receive such an allowance as a result of the death of their spouse or common-law partner if the Minister is informed and satisfied that the individual has been convicted of first or second degree murder or manslaughter of that spouse or common-law partner.

(2)If the Minister is informed and satisfied that an individual’s conviction for first or second degree murder or manslaughter of their spouse or common-law partner has been reversed, the charges have been withdrawn or the proceedings were stayed and not recommenced within the required time period and that all rights of appeal have been exhausted, the individual’s entitlement to the allowance to which they would otherwise have been entitled under section 21 becomes payable in accordance with that section as if subsection (1) had never applied and any amount recovered from the person shall be repaid.

(3)If an individual has been convicted by a court outside Canada in respect of an offence that, if it had been committed in Canada, would have constituted first or second degree murder or manslaughter, the Minister may deem that conviction to be a conviction of first or second degree murder or manslaughter for the purposes of this section.

(4)A person who has received an allowance referred to in this section and in respect of whom the Minister is subsequently informed and satisfied that he or she has been convicted of first or second degree murder or manslaughter of their spouse or common-law partner whose death would otherwise have resulted in the individual having been entitled to that allowance shall be deemed not to have been entitled to receive such an allowance, which shall constitute a debt due to Her Majesty under section 37 and the Minister shall recover those amounts, including any amounts paid before the date of the individual’s conviction.

(5)For greater certainty, this section applies in respect of any first or second degree murder or manslaughter conviction of which the Minister is informed before, on or after the coming into force of this section.

(6)For the purpose of this section, first or second degree murder means murder within the meaning of section 231 of the Criminal Code.

(7)For the purpose of this section, manslaughter means manslaughter within the meaning of the Criminal Code.

(8)This section does not apply to an individual who is convicted of manslaughter if the individual is released on the conditions prescribed in a probation order under paragraph 731(1)(a) of the Criminal Code.

^note

Amount of Allowance

22Definitions#

(1)In this section,

base calendar year has the same meaning as in section 10; (année de référence)

current fiscal year [Repealed, 1998, c. 21, s. 116]

current payment period means the payment period in respect of which an application for an allowance is made under this Part; (période de paiement en cours)

income, for the purposes of determining the amount of benefits under this Part that may be paid for a month before July 1, 1999, means the income calculated as prescribed by section 13; (revenu de l’année civile)

monthly income of a survivor in a current payment period is the amount that equals one-twelfth of their income for the base calendar year; (revenu mensuel du survivant)

monthly joint income of a pensioner and their spouse or common-law partner in a current payment period is the amount that equals 1/12 of the total of both of their incomes for the base calendar year; however, for the purpose of calculating the allowance that may be paid to the pensioner’s spouse or common-law partner under subsection (3) for either of the following periods, it is the amount that equals 1/12 of the income of the spouse or common-law partner for the base calendar year:

(a)the months during which the pensioner is an incarcerated person described in subsection 5(3), exclusive of the first month of incarceration and the month of release; or

(b)if a direction made under subsection 19(8) in respect of the spouse or common-law partner has not been cancelled under subsection 19(9), the months, exclusive of the first month, during which the spouse or common-law partner is not living with the pensioner in a dwelling maintained by one or the other of them; (revenu conjoint mensuel)

pension equivalent means, in respect of any month in a payment quarter, the amount of the full monthly pension payable for that month under section 7 that has not been increased under subsection 7(5); (valeur de la pension)

residual income of the survivor for a month in a current payment period means the amount determined by the formula

residual joint income of a pensioner and the pensioner’s spouse or common-law partner for a month in a current payment period means the amount determined by the formula

rounded pension equivalent means the pension equivalent rounded to the next higher multiple of three dollars when the pension equivalent is not a multiple of three dollars; (valeur arrondie de la pension)

rounded supplement equivalent means the supplement equivalent rounded to the next higher multiple of one dollar when the supplement equivalent is not a multiple of one dollar; (valeur arrondie du supplément)

supplement equivalent means, in respect of any month in a payment quarter, the amount of the supplement that would be payable for that month under subsection 12(1), (1.1), (1.2), (2), (3) or (4), as the case may be, to a pensioner whose spouse or common-law partner is also a pensioner when both the pensioner and the spouse or common-law partner have no income in the base calendar year and both are in receipt of a full pension; (valeur du supplément)

supplement equivalent for the survivor means, in respect of any month in a payment quarter, the amount determined under subsection (4.1), (4.2), (4.3) or (4.4), as the case may be. (valeur du supplément pour le survivant)

(2)Where, under this Part, an application has been made and approved or the requirement for an application has been waived in respect of the spouse or common-law partner of a pensioner for any month in a payment quarter, the amount of the supplement that may be paid for that month to the pensioner, in lieu of the amount of the supplement provided under Part II for that month, is the amount determined by the formula

(2.1)No supplement under subsection (2) may be paid to an incarcerated person described in subsection 5(3) for any month for which no pension may be paid.

(3)The amount of the allowance that may be paid under section 19 for any month in a payment quarter to the spouse or common-law partner of a pensioner is

(a)where there is no monthly joint income of the pensioner and spouse or common-law partner in the current payment period, the total of

(i)the product obtained by multiplying the pension equivalent in respect of the month by the spouse’s or common-law partner’s special qualifying factor for the month, and

(ii)the product obtained by multiplying the supplement equivalent in respect of the month by the spouse’s or common-law partner’s special qualifying factor for the month;

(b)where the monthly joint income of the pensioner and spouse or common-law partner in the current payment period is equal to or less than the product

(i)obtained by multiplying four-thirds of the rounded pension equivalent in respect of the month by the spouse’s or common-law partner’s special qualifying factor for the month, and

(ii)rounded, where that product is not a multiple of four dollars, to the next higher multiple of four dollars,

the amount determined by the formula

(c)where the monthly joint income of the pensioner and spouse or common-law partner in the current payment period is more than the product

(i)obtained by multiplying four-thirds of the rounded pension equivalent in respect of the month by the spouse’s or common-law partner’s special qualifying factor for the month, and

(ii)rounded, where that product is not a multiple of four dollars, to the next higher multiple of four dollars,

the amount determined by the formula

(4)The amount of the allowance that may be paid under section 21 for any month in a payment quarter to a survivor is

(a)where there is no monthly income of the survivor in the current payment period, the total of

(i)the product obtained by multiplying the pension equivalent of the survivor in respect of the month by the survivor’s special qualifying factor for the month, and

(ii)the product obtained by multiplying the supplement equivalent for the survivor in respect of the month by the survivor’s special qualifying factor for the month;

(b)where the monthly income of the survivor in the current payment period is equal to or less than the product

(i)obtained by multiplying four-thirds of the rounded pension equivalent in respect of the month by the survivor’s special qualifying factor for the month, and

(ii)rounded, where that product is not a multiple of four dollars, to the next higher multiple of four dollars,

the amount determined by the formula

(c)where the monthly income of the survivor in the current payment period is more than the product

(i)obtained by multiplying four-thirds of the rounded pension equivalent in respect of the month by the survivor’s special qualifying factor for the month, and

(ii)rounded, where that product is not a multiple of four dollars, to the next higher multiple of four dollars,

the amount determined by the formula

(4.1)The amount of the supplement equivalent for the survivor is

(a)four hundred and fifty-four dollars and nine cents, for any month in the payment quarter commencing on April 1, 2005;

(b)the amount of the supplement equivalent for the survivor that would otherwise be payable plus eighteen dollars, for any month in the payment quarter commencing on January 1, 2006; and

(c)the amount of the supplement equivalent for the survivor that would otherwise be payable plus eighteen dollars, for any month in the payment quarter commencing on January 1, 2007.

(4.2)Subject to paragraphs (4.1)(b) and (c), the amount of the supplement equivalent for the survivor for any month in a payment quarter commencing after June 30, 2005 is the amount obtained by multiplying

(a)the amount of the supplement equivalent for the survivor for any month in the three-month period immediately before that payment quarter

(4.3)Despite subsection (4.2), the amount of the supplement equivalent for the survivor for any month in a payment quarter may not be less than the amount of the supplement equivalent for the survivor for any month in the three-month period immediately before that payment quarter.

(4.4)If, in relation to any payment quarter, the Consumer Price Index for the first adjustment quarter is lower than the Consumer Price Index for the second adjustment quarter,

(a)no adjustment of the supplement equivalent for the survivor is to be made under subsection (4.2) in respect of that payment quarter; and

(b)no adjustment of the supplement equivalent for the survivor is to be made under that subsection in respect of any subsequent payment quarter until, in relation to a subsequent payment quarter, the Consumer Price Index for the first adjustment quarter that relates to that subsequent payment quarter is higher than the Consumer Price Index for the second adjustment quarter that relates to the payment quarter referred to in paragraph (a), in which case the second adjustment quarter that relates to the payment quarter referred to in that paragraph is deemed to be the second adjustment quarter that relates to that subsequent payment quarter.

(5)Where the allowance payable to the spouse or common-law partner of a pensioner under this Part is suspended or terminated for any month, the pensioner may, notwithstanding subsection (2), be paid, for that month, the amount of supplement provided under Part II.

(6)Where, by reason of the amount of the monthly joint income, the aggregate of the amount of allowance payable to a pensioner’s spouse or common-law partner for a month and the amount of supplement payable to the pensioner for that month under this Part is less than the amount of supplement that would be payable to the pensioner under Part II, the pensioner may, notwithstanding subsection (2), be paid, for that month, the amount of supplement provided under Part II minus the amount, if any, of allowance payable to that pensioner’s spouse or common-law partner for that month.

(7)For the purposes of subsections (5) and (6), an application made and approved under this Part shall be deemed to have been made and approved under Part II.

^note

22.1Additional amount — subsection 22(2)#

(1)The amount that may be added to the amount of the supplement that may be paid to a pensioner referred to in subsection 22(2) for any month in a payment quarter beginning after June 30, 2011 is the amount determined by the formula

(2)The amount that may be added to the amount of the allowance that may be paid to a spouse or common-law partner referred to in subsection 22(3) for any month in a payment quarter beginning after June 30, 2011 is the amount determined by the formula

(3)The amount that may be added to the amount of the allowance that may be paid to a survivor referred to in subsection 22(4) for any month in a payment quarter beginning after June 30, 2011 is the amount determined by the formula

(3.1)The amount determined for A in subsection (3) for any month in the payment quarter beginning on July 1, 2016 is the amount that would otherwise have been determined for A in that subsection for any month in that payment quarter plus $78.92.

(4)Subject to subsection (3.1), for the purpose of calculating the amount payable under any of subsections (1) to (3) for any month in a payment quarter beginning after September 30, 2011, the amount to be determined for A in that subsection is the amount obtained by multiplying

(a)the amount determined for A for any month in the three-month period immediately before that payment quarter

(5)Despite subsection (4), the amount determined for A for any month in a payment quarter shall not be less than the amount determined for A for any month in the three-month period immediately before that payment quarter.

(6)If, in relation to any payment quarter, the Consumer Price Index for the first adjustment quarter is lower than the Consumer Price Index for the second adjustment quarter,

(a)no adjustment to the amount determined for A shall be made under subsection (4) in respect of that payment quarter; and

(b)no adjustment to the amount determined for A shall be made under subsection (4) in respect of any subsequent payment quarter until, in relation to a subsequent payment quarter, the Consumer Price Index for the first adjustment quarter that relates to that subsequent payment quarter is higher than the Consumer Price Index for the second adjustment quarter that relates to the payment quarter referred to in paragraph (a), in which case the second adjustment quarter that relates to the payment quarter referred to in that paragraph is deemed to be the second adjustment quarter that relates to that subsequent payment quarter.

^note

Commencement of Allowance

23Commencement of allowance#

(1)Payment of an allowance to any person under this Part shall commence in the first month after the application therefor has been approved, but where an application is approved after the last day of the month in which it was received, the approval may be effective as of such earlier date, not prior to the day on which the application was received, as may be prescribed by regulation.

(1.1)Where the requirement for an application for payment of an allowance has been waived under this Part, the payment of the allowance shall not commence more than eleven months before the month in which the requirement for an application is waived.

(2)Notwithstanding subsection (1), where a person who has applied to receive an allowance attained the age of sixty years before the day on which the application was received, the approval of the application may be effective as of such earlier day, not before the later of

(a)a day one year before the day on which the application was received, and

(b)the day on which the person attained the age of sixty years,

as may be prescribed by regulation.

(3)Despite subsections (1) and (1.1), if the application for an allowance by a person described in paragraph 19(6)(f) or 21(9)(d) is approved while that person is incarcerated, payment of their allowance shall commence in respect of the month in which they are released but only if they

(a)have notified the Minister in writing before or after their release; and

(b)continue to be eligible for an allowance.

^note

Payment of Allowance

24Consideration of application or waiver#

(1)The Minister shall, without delay after receiving an application for an allowance under subsection 19(4) or 21(4) or after waiving the requirement for an application for an allowance under subsection 19(4.1) or 21(5.1), as the case may be, consider whether the applicant is entitled to be paid an allowance, and may approve payment of an allowance and fix the amount of benefits that may be paid, or may determine that no allowance may be paid.

(2)Where particulars of the basis on which the amount of any allowance that may be paid in respect of an application was fixed by the Minister are requested by an applicant or where the Minister determines that no allowance may be paid in respect of the application, the Minister shall forthwith in writing notify the applicants or applicant of the basis on which that amount was fixed or of the decision that no allowance may be paid in respect of the application and the Minister’s reasons therefor, as the case may be.

^note

25Payment of an allowance to be made in arrears#

Payment of an allowance for any month shall be made in arrears at the end of the month, except that where payment of an allowance in respect of any payment period is approved after the end of the month for which the first payment of the allowance may be made, payments thereof for the month in which payment of the allowance is approved and for months preceding that month may be made at the end of that month or at the end of the month next following that month.^note

26Application of Part II#

(1)Sections 6, 14, 15 and 18 apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require, in respect of an allowance under this Part and in respect of any application or any waiver of the requirement for an application for an allowance.

(1.1)For greater certainty, the Minister may waive the requirements of subsections 14(1) and 15(1) and (2) in respect of an application for an allowance under this Part if the information required under those subsections has already been submitted to or filed with the Minister in respect of an application for a supplement under Part II.

(2)The provisions of subsection 11(2) and sections 16 to 18 apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require, in respect of the supplement payable to the pensioner pursuant to subsection 22(2).

^note

Part IV · General

Effect of Waiver

26.1Deeming provision#

When the requirement for an application for a benefit is waived by the Minister under this Act, the application is deemed to have been made by the applicant on the day on which the requirement is waived and, for greater certainty, the applicant shall not be paid that benefit for any month that is more than 11 months before the month in which the application is deemed to have been made.^note

Inviting Applications

26.2Inviting persons to apply#

The Minister may invite persons to make an application for benefits under this Act and may, for that purpose, collect personal information and make available or use personal information available to him or her under this Act.^note

Adjustment in Consumer Price Index

27Where basis of Consumer Price Index changed#

Where at any time the Consumer Price Index for Canada, as published by Statistics Canada under the authority of the Statistics Act, is adjusted to reflect a new time basis or a new content basis, a corresponding adjustment shall be made in the Consumer Price Index with respect to any adjustment quarter that is used for the purpose of calculating the amount of any benefit that may be paid under this Act.^note

Reconsiderations and Appeals

27.1Request for reconsideration by Minister#

(1)A person who is dissatisfied with a decision or determination made under this Act that no benefit may be paid to the person, or respecting the amount of a benefit that may be paid to the person, may, within ninety days after the day on which the person is notified in writing of the decision or determination, or within any longer period that the Minister may, either before or after the expiration of those ninety days, allow, make a request to the Minister in the prescribed form and manner for a reconsideration of that decision or determination.

(1.1)A person against whom a penalty has been assessed under section 44.1 or, subject to the regulations, any person on their behalf, who is dissatisfied with the decision to impose a penalty or with the amount of the penalty may, within ninety days after the day on which the person is notified in writing of the decision or determination, or within any longer period that the Minister may, either before or after the expiration of those ninety days, allow, request the Minister in the prescribed form and manner to reconsider the decision or determination.

(2)The Minister shall, without delay after receiving a request referred to in subsection (1) or (1.1), reconsider the decision or determination, as the case may be, and may confirm or vary it and may approve payment of a benefit, determine the amount of a benefit or determine that no benefit is payable, and shall without delay notify, in writing, the person who made the request of the Minister’s decision and of the reasons for it.

^note

28Appeal — benefits#

(1)A person who is dissatisfied with a decision of the Minister made under section 27.1, including a decision in relation to further time to make a request, or, subject to the regulations, any person on their behalf, may appeal the decision to the Social Security Tribunal established under section 44 of the Department of Employment and Social Development Act.

(2)If, on an appeal to the Social Security Tribunal, it is a ground of the appeal that the decision made by the Minister as to the income or income from a particular source or sources of an applicant or beneficiary or of the spouse or common-law partner of the applicant or beneficiary was incorrectly made, the appeal on that ground must, in accordance with the regulations, be referred for decision to the Tax Court of Canada, whose decision, subject only to variation by that Court in accordance with any decision on an appeal under the Tax Court of Canada Act relevant to the appeal to the Social Security Tribunal, is final and binding for all purposes of the appeal to the Social Security Tribunal except in accordance with the Federal Courts Act.

(3)If a decision is made by the Social Security Tribunal in respect of a benefit, the Minister may stay payment of the benefit until the later of

(a)the expiration of the period allowed for making an application under the Federal Courts Act for judicial review of the decision, and

(b)where Her Majesty has made an application under the Federal Courts Act for judicial review of the decision, the month in which all proceedings in relation to the judicial review have been completed.

^note

Incapacity

28.1Incapacity when application actually made#

(1)Where an application for a benefit is made on behalf of a person and the Minister is satisfied, on the basis of evidence provided by or on behalf of that person, that the person was incapable of forming or expressing an intention to make an application on the person’s own behalf on the day on which the application was actually made, the Minister may deem the application to have been made in the month preceding the first month in which the relevant benefit could have commenced to be paid or in the month that the Minister considers the person’s last relevant period of incapacity to have commenced, whichever is the later.

(2)Where an application for a benefit is made by or on behalf of a person and the Minister is satisfied, on the basis of evidence provided by or on behalf of that person, that

(a)the person was incapable of forming or expressing an intention to make an application before the day on which the application was actually made,

(b)the person had ceased to be so incapable before that day, and

(c)the application was made

(i)within the period beginning on the day on which that person had ceased to be incapable and comprising the same number of days, not exceeding twelve months, as in the period of incapacity, or

(ii)where the period referred to in subparagraph (i) comprises fewer than thirty days, not more than one month after the month in which that person ceased to be so incapable,

the Minister may deem the application to have been made in the month preceding the first month in which the relevant benefit could have commenced to be paid or in the month that the Minister considers the person’s last relevant period of incapacity to have commenced, whichever is the later.

(3)For the purposes of subsections (1) and (2), a period of incapacity must be a continuous period, except as otherwise prescribed.

(4)This section applies only to persons who were incapacitated on or after January 1, 1995.

^note

Death

29Application for pension by estate, etc.#

(1)Despite anything in this Act, an application for a pension that would have been payable to a deceased person who, before their death, would have been entitled, on approval of an application, to payment of that pension under this Act may be made within one year after the person’s death by the estate or succession, by the liquidator, executor or administrator of the estate or succession or heir of that person or by any person that may be prescribed by regulation.

(2)If an application is made under subsection (1), the pension that would have been payable to a deceased person referred to in that subsection shall be paid to the estate or succession or to any person that may be prescribed by regulation.

(3)Any application made under subsection (1) is deemed to have been received on the date of the death of the person who, before their death, would have been entitled to payment of the pension.

^note

30Retroactive application by survivor#

(1)Despite paragraph 19(6)(b), if a person dies and the person’s survivor would have been entitled to an allowance under section 19 had the survivor and the deceased person made a joint application for it before the death of the deceased person, the survivor may make application for an allowance under section 19 within one year after the death of the deceased person.

(2)An application referred to in subsection (1) shall be considered and dealt with as though it had been a joint application of the survivor and the deceased person and had been received on the date of the death of the deceased person.

(3)[Repealed, 2007, c. 11, s. 24] (repealed)

^note

31Presumption as to death of applicant or beneficiary#

(1)Where an applicant or beneficiary has disappeared under circumstances that, in the opinion of the Minister, raise beyond a reasonable doubt a presumption that the applicant or beneficiary is dead, the Minister may issue a certificate declaring that the applicant or beneficiary is presumed to be dead and stating the date on which the death is presumed to have occurred, and thereupon the applicant or beneficiary shall be deemed for all purposes of this Act to have died on the date so stated in the certificate.

(2)If, after issuing a certificate under subsection (1), the Minister is satisfied from new information or evidence that the date of death is different from that stated in the certificate, the Minister may revoke the certificate and issue a new certificate stating a different date, in which case the applicant or beneficiary shall be deemed for all purposes of this Act to have died on the date so stated in the new certificate.

(3)If, after issuing a certificate under this section, the Minister is satisfied from new information or evidence that the applicant or beneficiary named in the certificate is alive, the Minister shall forthwith revoke the certificate and cause that person’s benefits to be re-instated effective the month following the date of the person’s presumed death stated in the certificate, subject to the provisions of this Act relating to the person’s eligibility to receive those benefits.

(4)For the purposes of this section, the Minister is not bound by the issuance or revocation of a death certificate by any other authority.

^note

Erroneous Advice or Administrative Error

32Where person denied benefit due to departmental error, etc.#

Where the Minister is satisfied that, as a result of erroneous advice or administrative error in the administration of this Act, any person has been denied a benefit, or a portion of a benefit, to which that person would have been entitled under this Act, the Minister shall take such remedial action as the Minister considers appropriate to place the person in the position that the person would be in under this Act had the erroneous advice not been given or the administrative error not been made.^note

Availability of Information

33Definitions#

(1)The following definitions apply in this section and sections 33.1 and 39.

administration includes the development, operation, evaluation and enforcement of policies and programs. (mise en oeuvre)

federal institution means a department or any other body referred to in Schedule I, I.1, II or III to the Financial Administration Act. (institution fédérale)

public officer means an officer or employee of a federal institution, or a prescribed individual or a member of a prescribed class of individuals. (fonctionnaire public)

(2)The definition of a word or expression in subsection (1) does not affect its interpretation in any other provision of this Act.

33.01 #

[Repealed, 2012, c. 19, s. 299] (repealed)

33.02 #

[Repealed, 2012, c. 19, s. 299] (repealed)

33.03 #

[Repealed, 2012, c. 19, s. 299] (repealed)

33.04 #

[Repealed, 2012, c. 19, s. 299] (repealed)

33.05 #

[Repealed, 2012, c. 19, s. 299] (repealed)

33.06 #

[Repealed, 2012, c. 19, s. 299] (repealed)

33.07 #

[Repealed, 2012, c. 19, s. 299] (repealed)

33.08 #

[Repealed, 2012, c. 19, s. 299] (repealed)

33.09 #

[Repealed, 2012, c. 19, s. 299] (repealed)

33.1Information obtained under other Acts#

Despite any other Act or law,

(a)the Minister of National Revenue or any person that he or she designates may make available to the Minister, or to a public officer of the Department of Employment and Social Development that is designated by the Minister, a report providing information that is available to the Minister of National Revenue, if the information is necessary for the administration of this Act;

(b)the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and officers and employees of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration may make available to the Minister, or to a public officer of the Department of Employment and Social Development, any information that was obtained in the administration of the Citizenship Act or the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, if the information is necessary for the administration of this Act; and

(c)the Commissioner of Corrections or staff members of the Correctional Service of Canada may make available to the Minister or a public officer of the Department of Employment and Social Development any personal information that was obtained in the administration of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, if the information is necessary for the administration of this Act.

^note

33.11 #

[Repealed, 2012, c. 19, s. 299] (repealed)

33.12 #

[Repealed, 2012, c. 19, s. 299] (repealed)

33.13 #

[Repealed, 2012, c. 19, s. 299] (repealed)

Regulations

34Regulations#

The Governor in Council may make regulations for carrying the purposes and provisions of this Act into effect and, without restricting the generality of the foregoing, may make regulations

(a)prescribing the manner of making any application, statement or notification required or permitted by this Act, the information and evidence to be made available or allowed to be made available in connection therewith and the procedure to be followed in dealing with and approving applications;

(b)prescribing the manner in which the average of the Consumer Price Index for any period of months shall be determined and the manner in which any such average that is determined to be a fraction of a whole number shall be expressed;

(c)defining the expression “pension income” for the purposes of section 14;

(d)for determining, for the purposes of any provision of section 14, the month in which or the month immediately before the month in which an applicant or an applicant’s spouse or common-law partner ceased to hold an office or employment, ceased to carry on a business or suffered a loss of income due to termination or reduction of pension income;

(e)prescribing the circumstances that shall be deemed to constitute, or prescribing what shall be or shall be deemed to be, an application by or on behalf of persons who are qualified for a pension under this Act and who, on or before December 31, 1951, applied for or were granted a pension as defined in the Old Age Pensions Act, chapter 156 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1927, and prescribing the time at which such applications shall be deemed to have been made or approved;

(f)prescribing the information and evidence to be made available or allowed to be made available by beneficiaries and the circumstances and form in which the information or evidence shall be submitted;

(g)providing for the assignment of Social Insurance Numbers by the Minister to applicants and beneficiaries, and to the spouses or common-law partners of applicants and beneficiaries, to whom such numbers have not earlier been assigned;

(h)defining residence and presence in Canada and defining intervals of absence from Canada that shall be deemed not to have interrupted residence or presence in Canada;

(i)providing, in the case of an allowance the amount of which is less than such amount not exceeding two dollars as may be prescribed in the regulations, for the payment of the allowance to the beneficiary at such intervals less frequently than monthly as may be prescribed in the regulations, or for the payment monthly of the prescribed amount to the beneficiary;

(j)providing for the suspension of payment of a benefit during an investigation into the eligibility of the beneficiary and the reinstatement or resumption of the payment thereof;

(k)prescribing the circumstances in which the spouse or common-law partner of a pensioner shall be deemed to be separated from the pensioner for the purposes of paragraph 19(1)(a) and subsection 19(5);

(l)prescribing the circumstances in which a pensioner shall be deemed to be separated from the pensioner’s spouse for the purposes of subsections 15(4.1) and (6.1);

(m)prescribing the manner in which any amount required by this Act to be deducted and retained out of any benefit payment shall be so deducted and retained;

(m.1)setting out the circumstances in which the Minister may allow a longer period to make a request under subsection 27.1(1) or (1.1);

(n)prescribing the procedure to be followed on any reference under subsection 28(2);

(o)providing for the making of any application or statement, or the doing of any other act or thing required or permitted by this Act, by any person or agency, and for the payment of a benefit to any person or agency, on behalf of any other person or beneficiary if it is established in any manner and by any evidence that may be prescribed by the regulations that the other person or beneficiary is, by reason of infirmity, illness, insanity or other cause, incapable of managing their own affairs, and prescribing the manner in which any benefit authorized to be paid to the person or agency shall be administered and expended for the benefit of the other person or beneficiary and accounted for;

(p)providing events for the purposes of subsections 11(8), 19(6.2) and 21(9.1); and

(q)prescribing anything that must or may be prescribed by regulations made under this Act.

(r) and (s)[Repealed, 2012, c. 19, s. 237] (repealed)

^note

34.1 #

[Repealed, 2012, c. 19, s. 238] (repealed)

34.2Regulations — payment of interest#

The Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the payment of interest on amounts owing to Her Majesty under this Act, including regulations prescribing

(a)the circumstances in which interest is payable;

(b)rates of interest or the manner of calculating rates of interest;

(c)terms and conditions for the imposition and payment of interest; and

(d)terms and conditions under which the Minister may waive, reduce or remit the interest payable.

^note

Form of Documents

35Form of applications, statements and notifications#

Every application, statement or notification required or permitted by this Act shall be made or given in such form as the Minister may require.^note

Benefits

35.1Making claim or providing information in person#

The Minister may require an applicant or other person or a group or class of persons to be at a suitable place at a suitable time in order to make an application for benefits in person or to provide additional information about an application.^note

36Benefit not assignable#

(1)A benefit shall not be assigned, charged, attached, anticipated or given as security, and any transaction purporting to assign, charge, attach, anticipate or give as security a benefit is void.

(1.1)A benefit is exempt from seizure and execution, either at law or in equity.

(2)Despite subsections (1) and (1.1), if a provincial authority or a municipal authority in a province pays a person any advance or assistance or welfare payment for a month or a portion of a month that would not be paid if a benefit under this Act had been paid for that period and subsequently a benefit becomes payable or payment of a benefit may be made under this Act to that person for that period, the Minister may, in accordance with any terms and conditions that may be prescribed, deduct from the benefit and pay to the provincial authority or municipal authority, as the case may be, an amount not more than the amount of the advance or assistance or welfare payment paid.

(3)Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (1.1), where any benefit is received for a month or any portion of a month after this subsection comes into force under any Act of Parliament that is administered by the Minister of Veterans Affairs, that would not have been received if a benefit under this Act had been paid for that period and subsequently a benefit becomes payable or payment of a benefit may be made under this Act to that person for that period, the Minister may deduct from the benefit and pay to the Department of Veterans Affairs an amount not exceeding the amount of the benefit if that person had, on or before receiving the benefit from the Department of Veterans Affairs, consented in writing to the deduction and payment by the Minister.

^note

37Return of benefit where recipient not entitled#

(1)A person who has received or obtained by cheque or otherwise a benefit payment to which the person is not entitled, or a benefit payment in excess of the amount of the benefit payment to which the person is entitled, shall forthwith return the cheque or the amount of the benefit payment, or the excess amount, as the case may be.

(2)If a person has received or obtained a benefit payment to which the person is not entitled, or a benefit payment in excess of the amount of the benefit payment to which the person is entitled, the amount of the benefit payment or the excess amount, as the case may be, constitutes a debt due to Her Majesty and is recoverable at any time in the Federal Court or any other court of competent jurisdiction or in any other manner provided by this Act.

(2.01)Interest payable under this Act constitutes a debt due to Her Majesty and is recoverable at any time in the Federal Court or any other court of competent jurisdiction or in any other manner provided by this Act.

(2.02)The amount of a penalty imposed on a person under section 44.1 constitutes a debt due to Her Majesty and is recoverable at any time in the Federal Court or any other court of competent jurisdiction or in any other manner provided by this Act.

(2.1)If any amount is or becomes payable to the person or to the person’s estate or succession under this Act or any other Act or program administered by the Minister, the amount of the debt may be deducted and retained out of the amount payable in the prescribed manner.

(2.2)All or part of the debt that has not been recovered may be certified by the Minister

(a)without delay, if in the Minister’s opinion the person liable to pay the amount is attempting to avoid payment; and

(b)in any other case, on the expiration of 30 days after the default.

(2.3)On production to the Federal Court, the certificate shall be registered in the Court. When it is registered, it has the same force and effect, and all proceedings may be taken, as if the certificate were a judgment obtained in the Court for a debt of the amount specified in the certificate.

(2.4)A certificate registered under subsection (2.3) may also be registered in the superior court of a province as if it were a document evidencing a judgment of that court.

(2.5)All reasonable costs and charges for the registration of the certificate are recoverable in the same way as if they had been certified and the certificate registered under this section.

(2.6)A document issued by the Federal Court or by a superior court of a province evidencing a certificate in respect of a debtor registered under subsection (2.3) or (2.4) may be recorded for the purpose of creating security, or a charge, lien or legal hypothec, on land in a province, or on an interest in land in a province, held or owned by the debtor, in the same manner as a document evidencing a judgment of the superior court of the province against a person for a debt owing by the person may be recorded in accordance with the law of the province to create security, or a charge, lien or legal hypothec, on land, or an interest in land, held or owned by the person.

(2.7)If the Minister knows or suspects that a person is or is about to become indebted or liable to make a payment to a person liable to make a payment to Her Majesty under this Act, the Minister may, by a notice served personally or by confirmed delivery service, require the first person to pay the money otherwise payable to the second person in whole or in part to the Receiver General on account of the second person’s liability.

(2.8)An amount not paid as required by a notice under subsection (2.7) is a debt due to Her Majesty.

(2.9)If provision is made by this Act or the regulations for personal service of a request for information or a notice or demand, an affidavit of the person effecting service stating that

(a)the person has charge of the appropriate records and has knowledge of the facts in the particular case,

(b)such a request, notice or demand was served personally on a named day on the person to whom it was directed, and

(c)the person identifies as an exhibit attached to the affidavit a true copy of the request, notice or demand,

is evidence of the personal service and of the request, notice or demand.

(3)[Repealed, 1997, c. 40, s. 105] (repealed)

(4)Notwithstanding subsections (1), (2) and (3), where a person has received or obtained a benefit payment to which that person is not entitled or a benefit payment in excess of the amount of the benefit payment to which that person is entitled and the Minister is satisfied that

(a)the amount or excess of the benefit payment cannot be collected within the reasonably foreseeable future,

(b)the administrative costs of collecting the amount or excess of the benefit payment are likely to equal or exceed the amount to be collected,

(c)repayment of the amount or excess of the benefit payment would cause undue hardship to the debtor, or

(d)the amount or excess of the benefit payment is the result of erroneous advice or administrative error in the administration of this Act,

the Minister may, unless that person has been convicted of an offence under any provision of this Act or of the Criminal Code in connection with the obtaining of the benefit payment, remit all or any portion of the amount or excess of the benefit payment.

(5)Section 155.1 of the Financial Administration Act does not apply in relation to amounts owing to Her Majesty under this Act.

^note

Oaths and Affidavits

38Commissioners for oaths, etc.#

(1)Any officer or employee of Her Majesty who is authorized by the Minister for the purpose may, in the course of their employment and subject to any other Act of Parliament or any Act of the legislature of a province, administer oaths and take and receive affidavits, declarations and solemn affirmations and every person so authorized has, with respect to any such oath, affidavit, declaration or affirmation, all the powers of a commissioner for taking affidavits.

(2)The Minister may accept, for the purposes of the administration of this Act or the regulations, any oath administered or affidavit, declaration or solemn affirmation given by any officer or employee of any department in, or other portion of, the federal public administration specified in Schedule I, IV or V to the Financial Administration Act or of any department of the government of a province who has all the powers of a commissioner for taking affidavits.

^note

Agreements

39Payment of provincial benefit#

(1)Where a province provides benefits similar to or as a supplement to benefits payable under this Act for a pensioner or a pensioner’s spouse or common-law partner within that province, the Minister may, with the approval of the Governor in Council, enter into an agreement with the government of that province whereby the provincial benefit that is payable to a pensioner or a pensioner’s spouse or common-law partner may be included with the amount of the benefit under this Act and paid on behalf of the government of that province in such manner as the agreement may provide.

(1.1)The agreement may provide for the Minister to administer the provincial benefits on behalf of the government of that province in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in the agreement.

(2)It shall be a term of the agreement that the government of the province that is a party to the agreement shall reimburse the Minister for the expenses incurred by the Minister under that agreement.

^note

40Reciprocal arrangements re administration, etc.#

(1)Where, under any law of a country other than Canada, provision is made for the payment of old age or other benefits including survivors’ or disability benefits, the Minister may, on behalf of the Government of Canada, on such terms and conditions as may be approved by the Governor in Council, enter into an agreement with the government of that country for the making of reciprocal arrangements relating to the administration or operation of that law and of this Act, including, without restricting the generality of the foregoing, arrangements relating to

(a)the exchange of such information obtained under that law or this Act as may be necessary to give effect to any such arrangements;

(b)the administration of benefits payable under this Act to persons resident in that country, the extension of benefits under that law or this Act to persons employed in or resident in that country and the increase or decrease in the amount of the benefits payable under that law or this Act to persons employed in or resident in that country;

(c)the administration of benefits payable under that law to persons resident in Canada, the extension of benefits under that law or this Act to persons employed in or resident in Canada and the increase or decrease in the amount of the benefits payable under that law or this Act to persons employed in or resident in Canada;

(d)the totalization of periods of residence and periods of contribution in that country and periods of residence in Canada; and

(e)the payment by that country and Canada respectively, where applicable as a result of totalization, of prorated benefits based on periods of residence and periods of contribution in that country and periods of residence in Canada.

(2)For the purpose of giving effect to any agreement entered into under subsection (1), the Governor in Council may make such regulations respecting the manner in which this Act shall apply to any case or class of cases affected by the agreement, and for adapting this Act thereto, as appear to the Governor in Council to be necessary for that purpose, and any regulations so made may provide therein for the making of any financial adjustments required under the agreement and for the crediting or charging of the amount of any such adjustments to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

^note

41Coming into force of agreements#

(1)The Governor in Council may, by order, declare any agreement entered into under section 40 to be in force and, when any such order comes into force, the agreement to which it relates has the force of law in Canada during such period as by the terms of the agreement it remains in force.

(2)Notice of the day an agreement entered into under section 40 comes into force and of the day it ceases to be in force shall be given by proclamation of the Governor in Council published, with the text of the agreement, in the Canada Gazette.

^note

42Tabling order#

(1)An order under section 41 shall be laid before each House of Parliament within the first 15 days on which that House is sitting after the order is made.

(2)An order referred to in subsection (1) shall come into force on the thirtieth sitting day after it has been laid before Parliament pursuant to that subsection unless before the twentieth sitting day after the order has been laid before Parliament a motion for the consideration of either House, to the effect that the order be revoked, signed by not less than fifty members of the House of Commons in the case of a motion for the consideration of that House and by not less than twenty members of the Senate in the case of a motion for the consideration of the Senate, is filed with the Speaker of the appropriate House.

(3)Where a motion for the consideration of the House of Commons or Senate is filed as provided in subsection (2) with respect to a particular order referred to in subsection (1), that House shall, not later than the sixth sitting day of that House following the filing of the motion, in accordance with the rules of that House, unless a motion to the like effect has earlier been taken up and considered in the other House, take up and consider the motion.

(4)A motion taken up and considered in accordance with subsection (3) shall be debated without interruption for not more than five hours and, on the conclusion of the debate or at the expiration of the fifth such hour, the Speaker of the House of Commons or the Senate, as the case may be, shall forthwith put, without further debate or amendment, every question necessary for the disposal of the motion.

(5)If a motion taken up and considered in accordance with subsection (3) is adopted, with or without amendments, a message shall be sent from the House adopting the motion informing the other House that the motion has been so adopted and requesting that the motion be concurred in by that other House.

(6)Within the first fifteen days next after receipt by it of a request pursuant to subsection (5) that the House receiving the request is sitting, that House shall, in accordance with the rules thereof, take up and consider the motion that is the subject of the request and all questions in connection therewith shall be debated without interruption for not more than five hours and, on the conclusion of the debate or at the expiration of the fifth such hour, the Speaker of the House of Commons or the Senate, as the case may be, shall forthwith put, without further debate or amendment, every question necessary to determine whether or not the motion in question is concurred in.

(7)Where a motion taken up and considered in accordance with this section is adopted by the House in which it was introduced and is concurred in by the other House, the particular order to which the motion relates shall stand revoked but without prejudice to the making of a further order of a like nature to implement a subsequent agreement between the Government of Canada and the government of the country that was a party to the agreement to which the order related.

(8)Where a motion taken up and considered in accordance with this section is not adopted by the House in which it was introduced or is adopted, with or without amendments, by that House but is not concurred in by the other House, the particular order to which the motion relates comes into force immediately on the failure to adopt the motion or concur therein, as the case may be.

(9)For the purposes of subsection (2), a day on which either House of Parliament sits shall be deemed to be a sitting day.

^note

43Negative resolution of Parliament#

When each House of Parliament enacts rules whereby any regulation made subject to negative resolution of Parliament within the meaning of section 39 of the Interpretation Act may be made the subject of a resolution of both Houses of Parliament introduced and passed in accordance with the rules of those Houses, section 42 of this Act is thereupon repealed and an order made thereafter under section 41 is an order made subject to negative resolution of Parliament within the meaning of section 39 of the Interpretation Act.^note

Offences

44Offences#

(1)Every person who

(a)knowingly makes a false or misleading statement in any application or statement required or permitted by this Act or makes any such application or statement that by reason of any non-disclosure of facts is false or misleading or obtains any benefit payment by false pretences, or

(b)being the payee thereof, negotiates or attempts to negotiate any cheque to which that person is not entitled,

(c)[Repealed, 1998, c. 21, s. 118] (repealed)

is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

(2)No information or complaint for an offence under this Act is open to objection on the ground that the information or complaint is for more than one matter of complaint or that it relates to more than one offence.

(3)Any proceedings under this Act in respect of an offence may be commenced at any time within, but not later than, five years after the Minister becomes aware of the subject-matter of the proceedings.

(4)No proceeding shall be commenced under this section or the Criminal Code for an act or omission if a penalty for that act or omission has been imposed under section 44.1.

Administrative Monetary Penalties

44.1Penalties#

(1)The Minister may impose on a person a penalty for each of the following acts or omissions if the Minister becomes aware of facts that in the Minister’s opinion establish that the person has

(a)made a statement or declaration in an application or otherwise that the person knew was false or misleading;

(a.1)knowingly failed to correct any inaccuracies in the information provided by the Minister as required by subsection 5(6), 11(3.3), 15(2.4), 19(4.05) or 21(4.3);

(b)made a statement or declaration in an application or otherwise that the person knew was false or misleading because of the non-disclosure of facts;

(c)knowingly failed to declare to the Minister all or some of the person’s income;

(d)received or obtained by cheque or otherwise a benefit payment to which the person knew that they were not entitled, or a benefit payment that the person knew was in excess of the amount of the benefit payment to which they were entitled, and did not return the cheque or the amount of the benefit payment, or the excess amount, as the case may be, without delay; or

(e)participated in, assented to or acquiesced in an act or omission mentioned in any of paragraphs (a) to (d).

(1.1)The purpose of the penalty is to promote compliance with this Act and not to punish.

(2)The Minister may set the amount of the penalty for each act or omission at not more than $10,000.

(3)A penalty shall not be imposed on a person under subsection (1) if

(a)a prosecution for the act or omission has been initiated against the person; or

(b)five years have passed since the day on which the Minister became aware of the act or omission.

(4)The Minister may rescind the imposition of a penalty under subsection (1), or reduce the penalty,

(a)on the presentation of new facts;

(b)on being satisfied that the penalty was imposed without knowledge of, or on the basis of a mistake as to, some material fact;

(c)on being satisfied that the penalty cannot be collected within the reasonably foreseeable future; or

(d)on being satisfied that payment of the penalty would cause undue hardship to the debtor.

^note

Administration and Enforcement

44.2Interpretation#

(1)The definitions in this subsection apply in this section.

document includes moneys, securities, books, records, letters, accounts, statements (financial or otherwise), correspondence, memoranda, film, microform, videotape, photographs, machine-readable records and other documentary material, regardless of form or characteristics, and any copy or printout of any of them. (document)

dwelling-house means the whole or a part of a building or structure that is kept or occupied as a permanent or temporary residence and includes

(a)a building within the yard of a dwelling-house that is connected to it by a doorway or by a covered and enclosed passageway; and

(b)a unit that is designed to be mobile and to be used as a permanent or temporary residence and that is being used as such a residence. (maison d’habitation)

judge means a judge of a superior court having jurisdiction in the province where the matter arises or a judge of the Federal Court. (juge)

(2)The Minister may, at any reasonable time, for any purpose relating to the administration or enforcement of this Act, examine any document that relates or may relate to the entitlement of a person to a benefit or the amount of a benefit and, for that purpose, the Minister may

(a)subject to subsection (3), enter any premises or place where the Minister believes a document relating to the entitlement of a person to a benefit or the amount of that benefit is or should be kept; and

(b)require the owner, occupant or person in charge of the premises or place to give the Minister all reasonable assistance and to answer all proper questions relating to the administration or enforcement of this Act and, for that purpose, require the owner, occupant or person in charge of the premises or place to attend at those premises or that place with the Minister.

(3)If the premises or place referred to in subsection (2) is a dwelling-house, the Minister may not enter that dwelling-house without the consent of the occupant except under the authority of a warrant issued under subsection (4).

(4)On ex parte application by the Minister, a judge may issue a warrant authorizing the Minister to enter a dwelling-house subject to the conditions that may be specified in the warrant, if the judge is satisfied by information on oath that

(a)there are reasonable grounds to believe that the dwelling-house is a premises or place referred to in subsection (2);

(b)entry into the dwelling-house is necessary for a purpose relating to the administration or enforcement of this Act; and

(c)entry into the dwelling-house has been refused or that there are reasonable grounds to believe that entry will be refused.

(5)If the judge is not satisfied that entry into that dwelling-house is necessary for a purpose relating to the administration or enforcement of this Act but is satisfied that access to a document that is or should be kept in the dwelling-house has been or may be expected to be refused, the judge may

(a)order the occupant of the dwelling-house to provide the Minister with reasonable access to the document; and

(b)make any other order that is appropriate in the circumstances to carry out the purposes of this Act.

(6)Despite any other provision of this Act, the Minister may, subject to subsection (7), for any purpose relating to the administration or enforcement of this Act, by notice served personally or by confirmed delivery service, require that any person provide, within the reasonable time that is stipulated in the notice, any information or additional information or any document.

(7)The Minister shall not impose on a person, in this section referred to as a “third party”, a requirement under subsection (6) to provide information or a document relating to one or more unnamed persons unless the Minister first obtains the authorization of a judge under subsection (8).

(8)On ex parte application by the Minister, a judge may, subject to the conditions that the judge considers appropriate, authorize the Minister to impose on a third party a requirement under subsection (6) relating to one or more unnamed persons, in this section referred to as the “group”, where the judge is satisfied by information on oath that

(a)the person or group is ascertainable; and

(b)the requirement is made to verify compliance by the person or persons in the group with a duty or obligation under this Act.

(9)If an authorization is granted under subsection (8), the authorization shall be served together with the notice referred to in subsection (6).

(10)If an authorization is granted under subsection (8), a third party on whom a notice is served under subsection (6) may, not later than 15 days after the service of the notice, apply to the judge who granted the authorization or, if that judge is unable to act, to another judge of the same court, for a review of the authorization.

(11)On hearing an application under subsection (10), a judge may cancel the authorization previously granted if the judge is not then satisfied that the conditions in paragraphs (8)(a) to (d) have been met, and the judge may confirm or vary the authorization if the judge is satisfied that those conditions have been met.

(12)When a document is inspected, examined or provided in accordance with this section, the person by whom it is inspected or examined or to whom it is provided may make, or cause to be made, one or more certified copies of it and any such copy is evidence of the nature and content of the original document and has the same probative force as the original document would have if it were proven in the ordinary way.

(13)No person shall interfere with any person doing anything that the person is authorized under this section to do or prevent or attempt to prevent any person from doing any such thing.

^note

Consolidated Revenue Fund

45Payment out of C.R.F.#

All benefits payable under this Act shall be paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.^note

Administration and Annual Report

46Administration#

This Act shall be administered by the Minister of Employment and Social Development.^note

46.1 #

[Repealed, 2012, c. 19, s. 239] (repealed)

47Annual report#

The Minister shall submit to Parliament annually, as soon as possible after the termination of each fiscal year, if Parliament is then in session or, if not, as soon as possible after the commencement of the next session of Parliament, a report covering the administration of this Act and including an account of receipts and disbursements during the previous fiscal year.^note

Related provisions

— 2007, c. 11, s. 37Subparagraphs 11(7)(e)(ii), 19(6)(d)(ii) and 21(9)(c)(ii) of the Old Age Security Act, as they read immediately before the day on which this Act receives royal assent, continue to apply to any person who, before that day, is a beneficiary of a supplement or an allowance under that Act or has made an application for payment of a supplement or an allowance under that Act. — 2007, c. 11, s. 38Section 29 of the Old Age Security Act, as it read immediately before the day on which this Act receives royal assent, continues to apply in respect of any application made under that section before that day. — 2010, c. 12, s. 1828Despite sections 41 and 42 of the Old Age Security Act, the Agreement on Social Security between Canada and the Republic of Poland, signed on April 2, 2008, is deemed to have come into force in Canada on October 1, 2009. — 2010, c. 12, s. 1829All actions taken in accordance with the conditions of the Agreement referred to in section 1828 during the period beginning on October 1, 2009 and ending on the day on which section 1828 comes into force, including the exchange of information — with respect to a person — that is obtained under the Old Age Security Act or prepared under that Act from that information between the competent authorities or competent institutions of Canada and the Republic of Poland and the payment of any benefits purporting to have been made under that Act, are deemed to be lawful. — 2010, c. 12, s. 1830For the purposes of section 1829, competent authority and competent institution have the same meanings as in the Agreement referred to in section 1828. — 2012, c. 19, s. 262The provisions of the Canada Pension Plan and the Old Age Security Act repealed by this Act, and their related regulations, continue to apply to appeals of which a Review Tribunal or the Pension Appeals Board remains seized under this Act, with any necessary adaptations. — 2021, c. 23, s. 275Any amount payable by the Minister of Employment and Social Development to pensioners, as defined in section 2 of the Old Age Security Act, who are or will be 75 years of age or older on June 30, 2022, in relation to a program to provide a one-time payment of $500 to those pensioners, may be paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Amendments not in force

— 2012, c. 19, s. 459Subsection 19(4) of the Act is replaced by the following:If the Minister intends to waive the requirement for an application in respect of a person under subsection (4.02) and the information available to the Minister under this Act with respect to that person includes the prescribed information, the person is presumed, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, to have met the requirements ofparagraph (1)(c); orparagraph (2)(a) or (b).Subject to subsections (4.02) and (4.1), no allowance may be paid under this section to a pensioner’s spouse or common-law partner in any payment period unless a joint application of the pensioner and the spouse or common-law partner, or an application described in section 30, has been made for payment of an allowance in respect of that payment period and payment of the allowance has been approved under this Part.Section 19 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (4.01):The Minister may, in respect of a person, waive the requirement referred to in subsection (4) for an application for an allowance for any month or months in a payment period if the Minister is satisfied, based on information available to him or her under this Act, that the person is qualified under this section for the payment of an allowance.The Minister may only waive the requirement referred to in subsection (4) in respect of a personon the day on which the pensioner’s spouse or common-law partner attains 60 years of age; oron the day on which the pensioner attains 65 years of age if, on that day, the spouse or common-law partner is at least 60 years of age.If the Minister intends to waive the requirement for an application in respect of a person under subsection (4.02), the Minister shall notify the person in writing of that intention and provide them with the information on which the Minister intends to rely to approve the payment of an allowance.The person shall, before the day referred to in paragraph (4.03)(a) or (b), file with the Minister a statement in which the person corrects any inaccuracies in the information provided by the Minister under subsection (4.04).The person may, before the day referred to in paragraph (4.03)(a) or (b), decline the waiver of the requirement for an application by notifying the Minister in writing of their decision to do so.Even if the requirement for an application has been waived in respect of a person under subsection (4.02), the Minister may, before the day referred to in paragraph (4.03)(a) or (b), require that the person make an application for payment of an allowance and, in that case, the Minister shall notify the person in writing of that requirement. — 2012, c. 19, s. 460Subsection 21(4) of the Act is replaced by the following:If the Minister intends to waive the requirement for an application in respect of a survivor under subsection (4.1) and the information available to the Minister under this Act with respect to the survivor includes the prescribed information, the survivor is presumed, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, to have met the requirements ofparagraph (1)(b); orparagraph (2)(a) or (b).Subject to subsections (4.1), (5) and (5.1), no allowance may be paid to a survivor under this section in any payment period unless the survivor has made an application for an allowance in respect of that payment period and payment of the allowance has been approved under this Part.The Minister may, in respect of a survivor, waive the requirement referred to in subsection (4) for an application for payment of an allowance for any month or months in a payment period if, on the day on which the survivor attains 60 years of age, the Minister is satisfied, based on information available to him or her under this Act, that the survivor is qualified under this section for the payment of an allowance.If the Minister intends to waive the requirement for an application in respect of a survivor under subsection (4.1), the Minister shall notify the survivor in writing of that intention and provide them with the information on which the Minister intends to rely to approve the payment of an allowance.The survivor shall, before the day on which they attain 60 years of age, file with the Minister a statement in which the survivor corrects any inaccuracies in the information provided by the Minister under subsection (4.2).The survivor may, before the day on which they attain 60 years of age, decline a waiver of the requirement for an application by notifying the Minister in writing of their decision to do so.Even if the requirement for an application is intended to be waived in respect of a survivor under subsection (4.1), the Minister may, before the day on which the survivor attains 60 years of age, require that the survivor make an application for payment of an allowance and, in that case, the Minister shall notify the survivor in writing of that requirement. — 2012, c. 19, s. 462Subsection 24(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:The Minister shall, without delay after receiving an application for an allowance under subsection 19(4) or 21(4) or after waiving the requirement for an application for an allowance under subsection 19(4.02) or (4.1) or 21(4.1) or (5.1), as the case may be, consider whether the applicant is entitled to be paid an allowance, and may approve payment of an allowance and fix the amount of benefits that may be paid, or may determine that no allowance may be paid. — 2012, c. 19, s. 463The Act is amended by adding the following after section 26:Cessation of PaymentIf a person makes a request to the Minister in writing that their allowance cease to be payable, it shall cease to be payable on the last day of the month in which the Minister approves the request and shall not resume until the later of the month after the month in which the Minister receives a new application for the allowance and the month chosen by the person in the application.Cancellation of PaymentA person may, in the prescribed manner and within the prescribed time after payment of an allowance has commenced, request cancellation of that allowance.If the request is granted and the amount of the allowance is repaid within the prescribed time,the application for that allowance is deemed never to have been made; andthe allowance is deemed for the purposes of this Act not to have been payable during the period in question.

Federal laws of Canada reproduced under the Reproduction of Federal Law Order (SI/97-5); not the official version. Source: Justice Laws Website.