CPP at 60 vs 65 vs 70: When to Start Your Pension

You can start your CPP retirement pension at any age from 60 to 70, and the age you choose changes the monthly amount for life. This page shows the pension at each start age, the ages at which a later start catches up in total payments, and the other things that affect the choice. It is part of the Canada Pension Plan hub.

The rule

• Start any time from 60 to 70; 65 is the standard age.
• Each month before 65 reduces it by 0.6%, up to 36% at 60.
• Each month after 65 increases it by 0.7%, up to 42% at 70.
• There is no benefit to waiting past 70.
• Applying after 65, the start can be backdated up to 11 months before your application, but not before the month after your 65th birthday.

Source: Service Canada, when to start your CPP pension.

The adjustment is counted in months from your 65th birthday: starting at 62 and 4 months, for example, is 32 months early, a reduction of 19.2%.

The pension at each start age

Sources: ESDC, CPP maximum monthly amounts (pension starting in January 2026); Service Canada, CPP payment amounts (average for new beneficiaries). The maximum CPP payment page explains who gets the maximum. Your own amount at 65 is in My Service Canada Account; the CPP calculator applies the adjustment to it.

Breakeven ages

Starting earlier means more payments; starting later means larger ones. The breakeven age is when the later start has paid the same total as the earlier one. After it, the later start is ahead.

Because these ages come from the adjustment percentages alone, they are the same whatever the size of your pension. At the maximum, the totals by age look like this:

The totals are in today’s dollars: they leave out inflation indexing, which raises all three columns alike, and any investment return on money received earlier. How long people live varies a lot; for reference, Statistics Canada’s life table for 2024 (released January 2026) gives a 65-year-old woman a remaining life expectancy of 22.45 years and a 65-year-old man 19.75 years.

What else affects the choice

Health and life expectancy. The breakeven ages matter most when you have a reason to expect a shorter or longer life than average. If you die before the breakeven age, the earlier start would have paid more in total; if you live well past it, the later start pays more.

Other income until the pension starts. Starting later means living on something else in the meantime: work, a workplace pension, RRSP or RRIF withdrawals, a TFSA, or a spouse’s income. Someone drawing down an RRSP in their 60s may do so partly to delay CPP.

Working. You can start the pension and keep working. Contributions made while you work add a post-retirement benefit, mandatory under 65 and optional from 65 to 70.

The GIS. For people with a low income, the Guaranteed Income Supplement falls as other income rises, and CPP counts as income. Over most of the income range each dollar of CPP reduces the GIS by about 50 cents, so an earlier, smaller CPP pension is partly offset by a smaller GIS. How income reduces the GIS has the details.

OAS and tax. The CPP pension is taxable income (is CPP taxable?), and at higher incomes it adds to the net income that sets the OAS recovery tax. A larger pension from a later start adds more taxable income each year; an earlier start spreads a smaller pension over more years, which can suit years when other income is low. CPP doesn’t qualify for the pension income amount.

A spouse or partner. Couples who both receive CPP can share their pensions, and a surviving spouse may get a survivor’s pension; both have their own rules and limits.

Delaying CPP until 70 looks at deferring past 65 in more detail, including delaying OAS at the same time.