OAS residency requirements: how years in Canada set your pension

OAS residency requirements at a glance

Old Age Security is not based on work or contributions. It is based on how long you have lived in Canada as an adult. That makes the OAS residency requirements the single biggest factor in how much you receive, especially for people who immigrated after 25.

You must also be 65 or older, and a Canadian citizen or legal resident when your pension is approved. Only years after your 18th birthday count, so childhood years in Canada do not help.

The OAS 10 year residency minimum

The OAS 10 year residency rule is the floor for anyone who lives in Canada when they apply. Ten full years after age 18 gives you 10/40, or one quarter, of the full pension. At the October to December 2026 rate that is about $190.63 a month at ages 65 to 74.

Residence means Canada was your home: where you kept your house, belongings, family ties and daily life. Short visits as a tourist are not residence. Service Canada decides residence using documents such as passport stamps, lease or ownership papers and tax records, so keep copies of anything that shows when you arrived and left.

Full pension at 40 years

Forty years of residence after 18 gives you the full OAS pension: $762.50 a month at ages 65 to 74 and $838.75 at 75 and over for October to December 2026. Someone who has lived in Canada from 18 to 58 has already reached 40 years, even though they cannot draw OAS until 65.

The full amount is the same for everyone who qualifies, regardless of earnings. It can still be reduced by the recovery tax on high incomes; see OAS clawback threshold for the current figures.

Partial OAS: the formula with examples

The partial pension is your years of residence after 18, divided by 40, multiplied by the full rate for your age group.

Worked example

Take someone who arrived in Canada at 43 and turns 65 in 2026 with 22 years of residence. The pension is 22 / 40 x $762.50 = $419.38 a month. It rises with the quarterly cost-of-living adjustments like any other OAS pension, and it gets the automatic 10% increase the month after the pensioner turns 75.

Because the Guaranteed Income Supplement is income-tested, a pensioner with a partial OAS and modest other income may also qualify for it. Our GIS explainer shows who qualifies.

OAS years of residency when you live outside Canada

If you do not live in Canada, the minimum doubles to 20 years after age 18. A retiree with 15 years in Canada who moves to a country without a social security agreement cannot receive OAS there, even though the same 15 years would pay 15/40 of the pension at home.

If the country you live in has an agreement with Canada, time spent living and working there may count toward the 20 years. The rules for keeping payments after a move, and the non-resident tax, are covered in can I get OAS if I live outside Canada.

Working abroad for a Canadian employer

Some time spent outside Canada is counted as Canadian residence. If you worked abroad for a Canadian employer, those years can count, provided you either:

• returned to Canada within 6 months after the job ended, or
• turned 65 while still working abroad and kept your residence in Canada.

Keep employment letters, contracts and proof of your return date. When you apply on form ISP-3550 or through My Service Canada Account, list every country you lived in since 18 with dates, and add these postings with a note on who employed you.

How to prove your OAS residency

1. Wait for the enrolment letter Service Canada sends around your 64th birthday. If it says you were enrolled automatically, residence has already been accepted from its records.
2. If you must apply, gather your arrival date in Canada, citizenship or permanent resident papers, and passports covering any years abroad.
3. List all periods outside Canada since age 18, with dates and the reason for each absence.
4. Answer any request from Service Canada for more proof quickly; a gap in the record can reduce your counted years.
5. Compare the approved amount with your own count of years. If it looks low, ask Service Canada how many years it counted and send proof of any missing period.

Once approved, payments arrive on the same schedule as other OAS benefits, listed on our OAS payment dates page.