Old Age Security In Canada

The old age security program is quite the success story for Canada, it has been achieved through a long and hard process. During the mid-1850s, Canada could be described as a sort of agricultural society. As a result, retirement was often unheard of. Most Canadians spent their days living and working on farms their whole life. When people were physically unable to work, their families would support them. However, those without family support had little to no options. Many of these people would look into charities, but these types of aid were often hard to attain. Even when seniors obtained help, they still had to beg because what they received was barely enough to live. Ultimately, this led to the implementation of what is known today as the …show more content…
Since labour was in high demand, there had been a shift from the farms to the city. When Mackenzie King won a majority government in 1926, the first thing he did was introduce legislation that came to be known as the Old Age Pensions Act. That following year, Canada’s first Old Age Pensions Act was passed. The terms of the act stated that somebody could receive a maximum amount of $20 a month or $240 a year, that it was eligible to anybody aged 70 and over who had lived in Canada for over 20 years, and only available to seniors whose income was less than $365 a year which was determined through a means test (Canadian Museum of History, 2001). The means test was degrading in the way that parents had to prove that their children couldn’t support them. Although support was limited, this was a vital stepping stone intended to reach the widely respected Old Age Security program that is prevalent in Canada …show more content…
In today’s society, in order for an individual to qualify for the old age security program, you must be a Canadian citizen or legal resident that has been living in Canada for at least 10 years since turning 18. If you’re living outside of Canada, you’ll be eligible to collect it if you were a Canadian citizen on the day before leaving Canada and lived in Canada for at least 20 years after turning 18. In addition, even if you don’t meet these requirements, you might still be eligible if the country in which you now live in has a social security agreement with Canada. If you meet these requirements, this means that you are entitled to collect the benefits of this program when you hit 65 years of age. The amount you receive depends on how long you’ve lived in Canada after turning 18. The maximum benefit is $569.95 per month (Government of Canada, 2015) Furthermore, benefits can be reduced by a “clawback.” This clawback is 15 cents for every dollar of income over $72,809 (Cestnick, 2015). This means that if you’re at an income level of $117,954, you do not receive Old Age Security (Cestnick, 2015). As life expectancy is increasing and more Canadian citizens are becoming eligible to receive the Old Age Security Pension, there is a growing uncertainty about the sustainability of the program. As a growing number of Canadians qualify for Old Age Security, the government is expecting to