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Maximum GIS Payment Amount | Guaranteed Income Supplement

Updated

These are the largest Guaranteed Income Supplement payments for October to December 2026. You get the maximum when your income for 2025, not counting OAS, was zero or low. Most other income lowers it, but some work earnings don’t count: why you might get less explains which income counts. To see what your income leaves you, use the GIS calculator.

Maximum GIS by situation

Your situationMaximum per monthMaximum per year
Single, widowed or divorced$1,138.90$13,666.80
Spouse or partner receives the full OAS$685.56 for each of you$8,226.72 for each of you
Spouse or partner receives the Allowance$685.56 for you; your spouse gets the Allowance instead$8,226.72 for you
Spouse or partner receives neither OAS nor the Allowance$1,138.90$13,666.80

Source: Service Canada, GIS: how much you could receive, October to December 2026.

If you and your spouse both receive the full OAS and both qualify for the maximum GIS, together you receive $1,371.12 of GIS a month, $685.56 each.

OAS and GIS together

The most each household can receive a month from OAS, the GIS and the Allowance combined. Couple rows add up what both of you receive.

HouseholdOASGISAllowanceTotal per monthTotal per year
Single, 65 to 74$762.50$1,138.90none$1,901.40$22,816.80
Single, 75 or older$838.75$1,138.90none$1,977.65$23,731.80
Couple, both 65 to 74 and both on OAS$1,525.00 ($762.50 each)$1,371.12 ($685.56 each)none$2,896.12$34,753.44
Couple, one 65 to 74 on OAS and the GIS, the other 60 to 64 on the Allowance$762.50$685.56$1,448.06$2,896.12$34,753.44

These figures assume a full OAS pension. With a partial OAS pension, the maximum GIS is raised by the amount your OAS falls below the full pension, so OAS and the GIS together can still reach these totals (Old Age Security Act, s. 12(5), “Guaranteed minimum income for pensioners”). The exception is someone who has lived in Canada for less than 10 years since turning 18: their GIS is scaled to their years in Canada, so 7 years of residence gives seven-tenths of the amount .

The Allowance and the Allowance for the Survivor

BenefitWho it’s forMaximum per month
AllowanceAged 60 to 64, spouse receives OAS and is eligible for the GIS$1,448.06
Allowance for the SurvivorAged 60 to 64, spouse or partner has died$1,726.18

See the Allowance for eligibility and income limits.

Why you might get less than the maximum

  • Income. The GIS is based on your income from the previous year (a couple's combined income), not counting the OAS pension; the first $5,000 of employment or self-employment earnings and half of those earnings between $5,000 and $15,000 don't count, and above that each dollar of income reduces the GIS, and it is reviewed each July from your tax return. For example, a single person whose only income besides OAS was $10,000 of CPP or other income that isn’t from work gets $556.90 a month, the amount Service Canada’s GIS rate table sets for that income. The GIS calculator works it out for any income, and how much can I earn on GIS shows how each kind of income is counted.
  • Your spouse’s income. Couples are assessed on combined income; see GIS for couples.
  • A missed tax return. Without your income for last year, payments can stop in July; see GIS renewal.
  • Living outside Canada. The GIS isn’t paid for any month after you have been outside Canada for 6 months in a row, not counting the month you left (Old Age Security Act, s. 11(7)(c)).

When the amounts change

OAS and GIS amounts are reviewed each January, April, July and October and raised in line with the Consumer Price Index; they don’t go down if prices fall. For October to December 2026, benefits rise 1.4%. The GIS income limits change with the new tables each quarter too.

Sources

The figures and rules on this page come from these sources, last checked against them between September 29, 2026 and September 30, 2026. How we check facts.