Human Resources and Skills Development Canada Tuesday announced the quarterly benefit amounts for Old Age Security (OAS) for July to September.
The maximum basic OAS pension benefit paid to people 65 years of age and older will increase to $549.89 from $546.07 per month from July 1 to September 30.
This represents an increase of 0.7% from the previous quarter. Payments under the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), the Allowance and the Allowance for the Survivor will also increase by the same percentage.
OAS benefit amounts are reviewed quarterly (in January, April, July and October) and revised as required to reflect increases in the cost of living, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) set by Statistics Canada.
The last time OAS benefit amounts increased was in January 2013, when benefits were raised in response to an increase in the average CPI. Since then, the average CPI had initially decreased, but increased again in the last quarter.
The Old Age Security Act guarantees that OAS benefits do not go down, even when there is a decrease in the CPI.
The OAS program enhances the quality of life of Canadian seniors by providing a modest base upon which to build additional income for retirement. In 2012-2013, it provided 5.2 million seniors with an estimated $40.4 billion in benefits.