Income Section - Old Age Security Pension (OAS)

This is what the Spousal Support Calculator says...

Old Age Security pension (OAS)


Input the party's Old Age Security pension (T1, Line 113; T4A(OAS) slip, Box 18).

According to the CSG, annual income is determined using Line 150 ("Total income") of the T1 General form, adjusted in accordance with Schedule III and ss. 17, 18 and 19 of the CSG. This is commonly referred to as "Guidelines Income".

Note that the SSAG use the same definition of annual income as under the CSG, with some exceptions.

See the help under "Employment Income" regarding Guidelines Income caps under the CSG and ceilings, floors, and floor exceptions under the SSAG.

TIP: There is a built-in conversion feature. See the help under "Employment Income".

My Rebuttal

A full OAS pension is dependent on two categories:

Caregory (1) You lived in Canada for at least 40 years after age 18 or
Category (2) You reached the age of 25 on or before July 1, 1977, and at that time:

1. you lived in Canada, or;
2. you did not live in Canada but you had some residence in Canada after the age of 18, or;
3. you were in possession of a valid Canadian Immigration Visa; and
4. you lived in Canada for the 10 years immediately before the approval of your OAS application.

If you did not live in Canada continuously for the 10 years immediately before the approval of your application, you may still qualify for a full pension if you meet both conditions below:

• you lived in Canada for the entire year immediately before the approval of your application; and
• you lived in Canada (since age 18) for at least 3 years for every 1 year of absence from Canada during these last 10 years.

Partial Pension

A partial pension is calculated at the rate of 1/40th of the full pension for each complete year of residence in Canada since age 18.

The minimum period you need to qualify for a partial pension is 10 years of residence in Canada after reaching age 18 (as long as you live in Canada when you receive your OAS pension). In other words, if you lived in Canada for 10 years after your 18th birthday, you may qualify to receive 10/40ths or one-quarter of the full Old Age Security pension.

Once a partial pension is approved, we can never increase the number of years of residency on which your pension is based. You will however, qualify for any cost-of-living increases.

Now it seems to me that alot of this is dependent on living in Canada for a number of years. I find it unfair to include the whole pension arbitrarily.