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CPP Survivor Benefits: The Survivor's Pension and Children's Benefit

Updated

When someone who contributed to the CPP dies, their surviving spouse or common-law partner may get a monthly survivor’s pension, their dependent children a children’s benefit, and their estate a one-time death benefit. This page covers the survivor’s pension and the children’s benefit; the CPP death benefit has its own page, and all CPP guides are in the Canada Pension Plan hub.

What survivors can receive

BenefitWho ReceivesMaximum Amount
Death benefitEstate (one-time)$2,500 (a top-up applies only when no one is eligible for a survivor’s pension and other conditions are met)
Survivor pensionSurviving spouse/partnerUp to ~$904.59/month (65+, starting in January 2026)
Children’s benefitDependent childrenUp to ~$307.81/month per child

CPP Survivor Pension

How the Survivor Pension Is Calculated

Per Canada.ca, the survivor pension formula depends only on whether the survivor is under 65 or 65 and older — there is no separate age-banded schedule for survivors under 65:

Survivor’s AgeCalculationMaximum Monthly (2026)
Under 65Flat-rate portion + 37.5% of the deceased’s calculated retirement pension~$803.54
65+60% of the deceased’s calculated retirement pension~$904.59

(Source: Canada.ca — CPP survivor’s pension.) Most survivors receive less than these maximums because the amount depends on the deceased contributor’s own CPP contribution history, not the survivor’s.

Combined CPP — Survivor + Own Retirement

If you receive both your own CPP retirement pension and a survivor’s pension, they are paid as one combined benefit. Canada.ca says the most that can be paid is the maximum retirement pension, but that cap applies to the base CPP: the enhanced part of a combined benefit is not subject to it. For a pension starting in January 2026, the combined maximum at 65 is $1,531.56 a month, against $1,507.65 for the retirement pension alone. The exact amount depends on your age and the size of each pension.

CPP Death Benefit

The CPP death benefit is a one-time payment to the estate (or other eligible people) of a contributor who contributed long enough: $2,500, plus, for deaths since January 1, 2025, a top-up of $2,500 (up to $5,000) when the contributor never received a CPP or QPP retirement or disability benefit and left no spouse or partner eligible for a survivor's pension. Because the top-up needs there to be no spouse or partner eligible for a survivor’s pension, a surviving spouse who qualifies for the survivor’s pension means the estate gets the basic amount. How to apply is in the CPP death benefit guide.

CPP Children’s Benefit

FeatureDetails
AmountUp to ~$307.81/month per child
Who qualifiesA child can get the CPP children's benefit if a parent receives the CPP disability benefit or has died having contributed enough for the death benefit, and the child is under 18, or 18 to 25 and at school full-time or part-time; the child must be the contributor's natural child, or adopted or in their care before age 21.
TaxableReported on the child’s return (usually no tax if only income)
FormISP-1300

If both parents are deceased: The child may receive two children’s benefits (one from each parent’s CPP record).

Eligibility Requirements

For the Deceased

RequirementDetails
CPP contributionsContributed for at least one-third of the calendar years in their contributory period (and at least 3 years), or for 10 calendar years

For the Surviving Spouse/Partner

  • You were the legal spouse or common-law partner (together at least 1 year) of the deceased contributor.
  • A separated legal spouse can qualify if the deceased had no common-law partner.
  • A separated spouse whose CPP credit split with the deceased was requested and approved from January 2025 isn't eligible, unless you reunited and lived together for 12 months or more immediately before the death.
  • Reuniting counts if you lived together for 12 months or more immediately before the death.
  • The pension continues if you remarry.
  • If widowed more than once, only the larger survivor's pension is paid.

The survivor can be any age, but the amount depends on age and other benefits.

How to Apply

StepAction
1Gather documents (death certificate, SINs, marriage proof)
2Complete ISP-1300 (survivor pension + children’s benefit)
3Complete ISP-1200 (death benefit — can be combined)
4Submit to Service Canada online (My Service Canada Account) or by mail
5Retroactive payments: up to 12 months

Service Canada may ask for supporting documents, such as the death certificate or proof of your relationship. Copies are acceptable, though it can ask for an original or a certified copy.

Tax Treatment

BenefitTaxable?Reported On
Survivor pension✅ YesSurvivor’s T4A(P), Line 11400
Death benefit✅ YesEstate return (or recipient if applicable)
Children’s benefit✅ YesChild’s return (usually no tax payable)

Impact on Other Benefits

BenefitImpact of Survivor Pension
OASNo direct impact (but adds to net income)
OAS clawbackIncreases income toward $93,454 threshold (2025 income)
GISReduces GIS (counts as income)
Provincial benefitsMay affect income-tested benefits
Private pensionNo impact

Quebec

If the deceased contributed to the Quebec Pension Plan, survivor benefits come from the QPP, administered by Retraite Québec, which has its own amounts and rules.

Sources

The figures and rules on this page come from these sources, last checked against them between September 5, 2026 and September 30, 2026. How we check facts.