{"id":451936,"date":"2026-02-03T21:20:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T21:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/451936\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T21:20:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T21:20:11","slug":"old-age-security-reform-cant-be-political-third-rail-group-urges-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/451936\/","title":{"rendered":"Old age security reform can\u2019t be political \u2018third rail,\u2019 group urges – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reforming old age security<\/a> shouldn\u2019t be seen as the Canadian political \u201cthird rail any longer,\u201d says advocacy group Generation Squeeze.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Founder Paul Kershaw on Tuesday called for Parliament to \u201cmodernize\u201d the old age security benefit so both older and younger Canadian generations who need financial support can receive it.<\/p>\n

Old age security is a federal benefit available to Canadian seniors aged 65 and older, with certain monthly amounts paid based on income, age and residency.<\/p>\n

However, it gives hundreds of dollars a month to seniors with household incomes over $100,000 per year, which has spurred increasing calls from advocates like Generation Squeeze to claw that back from higher income tiers.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur proposal would ask financially secure retirees to take less,\u201d said Kershaw.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany are willing to do so.\u201c<\/p>\n

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Prime Minister Mark Carney\u2019s first budget for 2025<\/a> estimates that $88.8 billion will be spent in the next fiscal year (2026\/27) on Elderly Benefits, including OAS. This is an increase from the $83.1 billion spent in 2025\/26.<\/p>\n

The budget indicates these benefits are the single largest federal spending program.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMore on Money
\n\t\t\tMore videos\n\t\t<\/p>\n

A February 2025 BMO Retirement survey<\/a> indicates that \u201cover three quarters of Canadians (76 per cent) are worried they will not have enough money in retirement because of rising prices\u201d and \u201c63 per cent of Canadians believe rising prices over the past 12 months have limited their ability to save for retirement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey [Canadian seniors] are willing to take less from old age security because they do not fully need the subsidy, and they do so that Canada\u2019s public finances are better prepared for the challenges ahead,\u201d said Kershaw.<\/p>\n

Generation Squeeze<\/a> is a charitable non-profit organization \u201cthink and change tank\u201d with a mandate to \u201cchampion generational fairness\u201d and push policies that address generational inequalities.<\/p>\n

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The organization presented a campaign video featuring 11 Canadian seniors who urged \u201cmodernizing old age security in a way that frees up billions of dollars, improves affordability and economic security across generations and does so without spending more or raising tax rates.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Click<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\tHow much does old age security give retirees?\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Currently, the government of Canada lists<\/a> those aged 65 to 74 as eligible to receive $742.31 maximum a month if their annual net world income is less than $148,451.<\/p>\n

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Those aged 75 and above are eligible to receive $816.54 maximum a month if their annual net world income is less than $154,196.<\/p>\n

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The amounts depend on \u201cage, income, and the number of years you have lived in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

Canadians are also entitled to a 10 per cent increase on their OAS benefits once they turn 75 years old.<\/p>\n

That is in addition to money individuals are eligible for from the Canada Pension Plan, or from personal or employer retirement savings plans.<\/p>\n

Lower-income seniors can also get the Guaranteed Income Supplement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we need right now is solidarity between young and older \u2014 we\u2019re not pitting generations against one another here,\u201d said Kershaw.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have retirees saying they want to do their patriotic duty to secure the financial foundation [\u2026] so we can eliminate seniors\u2019 poverty and invest in their kids and grandchildren\u2019s generation. That\u2019s the kind of solidarity we need at this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reforming old age security shouldn\u2019t be seen as the Canadian political \u201cthird rail any longer,\u201d says advocacy group…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":451937,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[45,49,48,46,133,185850,19420,131,132],"class_list":["post-451936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-economy","tag-finance","tag-generation-squeeze","tag-old-age-security","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=451936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}