Canada Pension Plan (CPP) 2026

The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) pays a pension based on the contributions you made while working. It is separate from Old Age Security (OAS), which is based on how long you have lived in Canada, and most seniors receive both. Besides the retirement pension, the CPP pays disability, survivor, death and children’s benefits.

How Much Is the CPP Retirement Pension?

For a pension starting at 65 in January 2026, the maximum is $1,507.65 a month. The maximum assumes many years of contributions at the earnings ceiling. The average for people who started at 65 in July 2026 was $858.34 a month. Your amount depends on how long you contributed and how much you earned, and payments are adjusted for inflation every January. The January 2026 adjustment was 2.0%.

The CPP has been enhanced gradually since 2019. For earnings from that year on, the share of earnings the pension replaces rises from 25% to one third, and the full enhancement applies after about 40 years of contributions.

When Should You Start Your Pension?

If you have made at least one valid contribution, you can start your retirement pension at any age from 60 to 70. Starting before 65 reduces your pension by 0.6% for each month, or 36% at 60. Waiting past 65 increases it by 0.7% for each month, or 42% at 70. There is no further increase after 70. You need to apply to receive your pension, although the government may start paying contributors over 70 who have not applied if they receive OAS or filed a tax return for the previous year.

You can apply up to 12 months before the date you want your pension to start. If you apply after 65, you can receive up to 11 months of back payments, but not for any month before the month after your 65th birthday. When to start is best decided together with your health, your other income, the OAS recovery tax (clawback) and your overall tax position.

What If You Keep Working While Receiving CPP?

If you are under 65 and working while receiving your pension, you must keep contributing. Between 65 and 70 you can choose to stop: employees give form CPT30 to their employer and the Canada Revenue Agency, and self-employed people make the election on Schedule 8 of their tax return. Contributions you keep making are added to your pension the following year as the post-retirement benefit.

How Much Are CPP Contributions in 2026?

For 2026, the basic exemption is $3,500 and the year’s maximum pensionable earnings are $74,600. Employees and employers each contribute 5.95% on earnings in that range, up to $4,230.45 each. On earnings above $74,600 and up to $85,000, employees and employers each pay a second additional contribution of 4%, up to $416. Self-employed people pay both shares, at 11.90% and 8%.

Can You Receive a Disability Benefit If You Cannot Work?

If you are between 18 and 65 and a long-term disability prevents you from working at any job on a regular basis, you can apply for the disability benefit if you contributed in at least four of the six years before your disability stopped you from working. If you have contributed for 25 years or more, three of those six years is enough. The maximum in 2026 is $1,741.20 a month, and the benefit converts automatically to a retirement pension at 65.

What Your Family Receives When a Contributor Dies

If the contributor met the minimum contribution requirement (contributions in at least one third of the years in their contributory period, with a minimum of three years, or 10 years), a surviving spouse or common-law partner may receive the survivor’s pension. In 2026 the maximum is $803.54 a month for survivors under 65 and $904.59 for those 65 and older. For months from January 2019, the survivor’s age, dependent children and disability no longer affect eligibility, and the reduction for survivors under 45 no longer applies. If the survivor also receives their own CPP pension, the combined amount is capped. A separated legal spouse qualifies only if the contributor had no common-law partner, and a separated spouse does not qualify if a credit split with the contributor was requested and approved in January 2025 or later, unless the couple lived together again for at least 12 months immediately before the death.

The death benefit is a one-time payment of $2,500 for a contributor who met the same minimum contribution requirement, and it is a fixed amount that is not adjusted for inflation. If the contributor died on or after January 1, 2025, never received a CPP or QPP retirement or disability pension, and has no spouse or common-law partner eligible for a survivor’s pension, an additional $2,500 is paid to the estate, for a total of $5,000. If there is no estate, or the executor does not apply within 60 days of the death, the benefit may be paid, in order, to the person or institution that paid or is responsible for paying the funeral expenses, the surviving spouse or common-law partner, or the next of kin.

Children of a contributor who has died or who receives a disability benefit may receive the children’s benefit. In 2026 it is $307.81 a month for a child under 18 or a full-time student aged 18 to 25. Since January 2025, part-time students aged 18 to 25 receive half that amount, $153.91 a month.

How CPP Is Divided After Separation or Divorce

The CPP contributions both spouses made while living together can be divided equally after a divorce or separation. This is called credit splitting. You must have lived together for at least 12 consecutive months. For a divorce on or after January 1, 1987, there is no deadline to apply. Married spouses who separate without divorcing can apply after living apart for 12 months, with no deadline unless the former spouse dies, in which case the application must be made within 36 months of the death. Common-law partners must have lived apart for at least 12 months and must apply within 48 months of the date they started living apart. Generally, a spousal agreement cannot prevent a credit split. The exceptions are agreements in Quebec, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Alberta. Ontario is not one of them.

Couples who live together can also apply for pension sharing if at least one of them receives or has applied for a retirement pension. It divides their retirement pensions between them and may result in tax savings. Pension sharing ends on divorce, death, a joint request to cancel, or in the 12th month after the couple starts living apart.

Pensions From Other Countries

Canada has social security agreements with many countries. If you do not meet the contribution requirements for a CPP benefit with your Canadian contributions alone, periods of contribution to a partner country’s pension plan may be counted to help you qualify, which matters most for the disability, survivor and death benefits. Each country pays only for the periods credited under its own plan. Agreements differ from country to country, and some cover only which country’s plan you contribute to while working abroad, so check the agreement for the country where you worked.

How Is CPP Taxed?

CPP benefits are taxable. Residents of Canada receive a T4A(P) slip each year and report the benefits on their income tax return. Tax is not deducted automatically, so you can request voluntary deductions through My Service Canada Account or with form ISP3520CPP to avoid a large balance owing at tax time. If you live outside Canada, non-resident tax of 25% is withheld unless a tax treaty sets a lower rate, and you receive an NR4 slip.

How Jenna Lee Law Can Help

Jenna Lee Law advises on when to start CPP and OAS, credit splitting after separation or divorce, survivor and death benefit applications after a family member dies, and estate administration. Our principal lawyer is also a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA), so the tax effect of your start date, the OAS clawback and cross-border reporting are reviewed at the same time.