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Average Retirement Income in Canada: What Seniors Receive, by Province

Updated

What Canadian seniors actually live on, from Statistics Canada’s Canadian Income Survey, and what the government benefits underneath it pay. All CIS figures are for 2024, in 2024 constant dollars, released April 29, 2026. This page is part of the retirement income hub.

Median income of seniors

HouseholdMedian total incomeMedian after-tax income
Senior couples$89,000$80,700
Senior families (main earner 65 or older)$91,800$83,200
Seniors living alone (not in an economic family)$41,100$38,600
Senior women not in an economic family$40,700$38,400
Senior men not in an economic family$41,900$39,200

Seniors not in an economic family live alone or only with people they aren’t related to. Source: Statistics Canada, table 11-10-0190-01.

By age, for people with income (table 11-10-0239-01):

Age groupMedian total incomeAverage total income
55 to 64$53,300$70,200
65 and over$39,200$55,200

At 65 and over the average is well above the median, because a smaller number of people with high incomes pulls the average up.

By province

Median after-tax income, 2024:

ProvinceSenior familiesSeniors not in an economic family
Newfoundland and Labrador$72,300$32,400
Prince Edward Island$78,500$34,400
Nova Scotia$74,300$32,500
New Brunswick$71,000$32,200
Quebec$75,500$34,600
Ontario$88,300$42,300
Manitoba$82,900$38,100
Saskatchewan$88,600$39,600
Alberta$91,400$42,000
British Columbia$87,500$41,000
Canada$83,200$38,600

Survey estimates for smaller provinces have wider margins of error, so small differences between provinces may not be meaningful. The CPP operates throughout Canada except in Quebec, where the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP), run by Retraite Québec, provides similar pensions.

What the government benefits pay

BenefitMonthly amount
CPP retirement pension, average for a new pension (July 2026)$858.34
CPP retirement pension, maximum at 65 (starting in January 2026)$1,507.65
OAS pension, maximum at 65 to 74 (October to December 2026)$762.50
GIS, maximum for a single pensioner (October to December 2026)$1,138.90

The average new CPP pension is about 57% of the maximum. The amount depends on how much and for how long you contributed and on your earnings throughout your working life; years of low or no earnings can be left out of the calculation, and years spent raising young children may raise it (why your CPP may be less than expected). The retirement income floor shows what the three benefits add up to in common situations.

How much of a working income they replace

CPP is capped and OAS doesn’t depend on earnings, so together they replace a much larger share of a modest income than of a high one.

With the average new CPP pension and the full OAS ($19,450 a year):

Income before retirementShare replaced by CPP and OAS
$40,00049%
$70,00028%
$100,00019%

The rest can come from sources such as employer pensions and personal savings. How much do I need to retire? turns the gap into a savings target, and am I saving enough for retirement? compares progress with common benchmarks.

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.