Turning 65 Financial Checklist Canada | What Changes and What to Do

Turning 65 brings a cluster of changes at once: OAS becomes available, CPP reaches its standard age, two tax credits open up, RRIF income starts to count as pension income, and several provinces change prescription drug coverage. Most of these have to be claimed or applied for. This checklist runs through them in order. It is part of our guide to life stages and life events; the decade as a whole is covered in the financial guide for your 60s, and retiring at 65 in retire at 65.

The timeline

Old Age Security

OAS pays up to $762.50 a month at ages 65 to 74 (October to December 2026). Some people are enrolled automatically; others apply.

You can start OAS at 65 or delay it up to age 70; each month of delay adds 0.6% (7.2% a year), up to 36% at 70. There's no benefit to waiting past 70, or at all if you're eligible for the GIS, and OAS can't start before 65. Whether to start at 65 or defer, and how to apply, is covered in when to apply for OAS. OAS is reduced once net income passes $93,454 (2025 income), which is one reason people with high income look at deferring; see the OAS clawback guide.

The Guaranteed Income Supplement

Seniors with low income may also receive the GIS, up to $1,138.90 a month for a single person (October to December 2026), if annual income is below $23,112. It is usually assessed with the OAS application and renewed from your tax return each year; see the GIS guide.

The CPP decision

If you haven’t started CPP yet, 65 is the standard age. You can start the CPP retirement pension any time from 60 to 70 (65 is the standard age): it is 0.6% lower for each month before 65 (up to 36% less at 60) and 0.7% higher for each month after (up to 42% more at 70), with no gain from waiting past 70; applying after 65, you can backdate the start up to 11 months, but not before the month after your 65th birthday. The trade-offs are in CPP at 60 vs 65 vs 70. If you keep working while receiving CPP, contributions can build a post-retirement benefit.

Tax credits that start at 65

The age amount

From the year you turn 65, you can claim the federal age amount: $9,208 for 2026, reduced by 15% of net income above $46,432. Provinces have their own age amounts too.

The pension income amount

Up to $2,000 of eligible pension income qualifies for the federal pension income amount; RRIF and annuity payments count from age 65 (or earlier if received because a spouse died), lifetime pension (life annuity) payments from a registered pension plan at any age, and CPP, OAS and GIS payments never count. At 65, that means RRIF withdrawals become eligible pension income, so someone with no workplace pension can create eligible income by converting part of an RRSP to a RRIF and withdrawing up to the credit’s base amount each year. How both credits work in a retirement plan is covered in retire at 65.

Pension income splitting

From 65, RRIF income joins workplace pension income as eligible for splitting: you can move part of it to a lower-income spouse’s return with a joint election. The rules and the form are in pension income splitting.

Drug coverage and health benefits

If you’re still working

You can keep contributing to an RRSP until the end of the year you turn 71 if you have room, and your income still counts toward the OAS recovery tax. How work and OAS interact is in working while collecting OAS.

Drawing on your savings

With OAS, CPP and possibly RRIF income all starting around 65, it’s a natural point to set a withdrawal plan; the approaches are compared in what to do with your money after retirement.

The 65th birthday checklist

Related resources

• CPP Benefits Guide
• Turning 71 Checklist