OAS Deferral: Should You Start OAS at 65 or 70?

This page covers when to start OAS: what deferring adds, the break-even age, and how the GIS, the clawback and CPP change the answer. How to ask for a later start is covered in how and when to apply, and OAS in general in the OAS guide.

What deferring adds

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. The increase is permanent, and the pension is still indexed to inflation every quarter. (Source: Service Canada, When to start your pension.)

At 75, every pension rises another 10%, including a deferred one; the maximum OAS payment page lists the current amounts. The OAS calculator shows the effect for a partial pension. Deferral doesn’t change who qualifies; see am I eligible for OAS?.

The break-even age

Deferring means giving up payments now for a larger pension later. Each year of delay gives up 12 monthly payments and adds 7.2% to every later payment, so it takes about 13.9 years of the higher pension to recover what was given up. Starting at 70 breaks even at about age 84, and a start at 67 breaks even at about 81.

Totals use the October to December 2026 maximum pension, before tax, the clawback, inflation indexing (which raises both equally) or any return on money received earlier.

For context, Statistics Canada puts life expectancy at 65 at another 19.6 years for men and 22.2 years for women (2023), to about 85 and 87. (Statistics Canada, Deaths, 2023.) Averages say little about any one person: health and family history matter more.

When the GIS is in the picture

While you defer OAS, you can’t receive the Guaranteed Income Supplement, and a spouse can’t receive the Allowance. For someone who would qualify, deferring gives up both payments.

With the maximum single GIS of $1,138.90 a month (October to December 2026), 5 years of deferral would give up about $114,084. The higher OAS adds $274.50 a month, so recovering that would take about 35 years, to around age 105. Actual GIS amounts are usually lower, but the conclusion rarely changes: for GIS-eligible seniors, starting OAS at 65 usually pays more.

When the clawback is in the picture

The OAS clawback recovers 15% of net income above $93,454 for 2025 income, recovered from the payments for July 2026 to June 2027. The income levels below are for that same income year.

• Income below the threshold from 65 to 70: the clawback doesn’t affect the choice.
• Income high enough that the clawback would take all of your OAS (above $152,062 of 2025 income at 65 to 74): starting at 65 pays you little or nothing, so deferring costs little and raises the pension for later years, when income may be lower.
• Income in between: deferring gives up the part of OAS the clawback would have left you. It pays off mainly if your income is expected to fall later, for example after you stop working.

Because the deferred pension is larger, it also takes a higher income to claw it back entirely.

Coordinating with CPP

CPP can start between 60 and 70 and grows 0.7% a month for each month after 65, compared with 0.6% for OAS. Some people start one pension earlier to cover the years while they defer the other; the CPP side is explained in CPP at 60, 65 or 70, and the two are compared in CPP vs OAS.

Other points

• No survivor benefit. OAS stops when you die; unlike CPP, it has no survivor’s pension, so deferring doesn’t raise anything a spouse later receives.
• Changing your mind. Within 6 months of your first payment, you can ask in writing to cancel OAS, repay what you received, and reapply later for a higher pension.
• Working past 65. Earnings don’t stop OAS; they count toward the clawback. See working while collecting OAS.

A summary of the trade-offs

Related guides

• How and when to apply for OAS
• OAS clawback calculator
• Maximum OAS payment
• Retirement calculator