eligibility for age pension for Canadian born , USA resident

[ReneeT]

Hi..I just discovered this cool website.
I live in Australia and I am told I can be entitled to an age pension from Canada.
Can you guide me as to where to start to find out if my 70 year old sister , Canadian born, but now a US citizen and resident is entitled to an age pension from Canada (not the retirement pension) just AGE pension?
Help please.
Cheers and
Merci...

[agnelson]

I once helped a woman living here in US to collect OAS from canada after she moved from canada in 1959.

She is entitled to 1/40th of the regular OAS for every year after she turned 18 and lived iN canada. So if born in 1938 and lived in canada until 1966, she would be entitled to 10/40th (since she turned 18 in 1956) of the regular monthly OAS.

Now, to collect this OAS while living outside Canada, she would normally need to have lived 20 years as an adult in canada. If she did, all she has to do is contact Service canada.

http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/isp/ ... ide3.shtml

If she lived less than 20 years as an adult in canada, she needs to use her Social security history to collect OAS while outside canada. She would get in touch with the Social security office in her town, with the information below, and they will get the ball rolling.

http://www.ssa.gov/international/Agreem ... anada.html

The OAS rules say that they only start paying OAS for the months after you first post your claim (not from 65 if you've delayed), but I've found that they usually do it retroactively to the month you turned 65.

So, the big question is when did she live in Canada?

[ReneeT]

Very helpful Agnelson.
She was born in 1939 and left at age 22 approximately... 1961 ...
I shall consult the websites you suggested and take it from there...
Thanking you muchly !. cheers, Renee

[agnelson]

So, she is eligible for 4/140ths, 1/10th of the monthly amount. as long as she worked in US for 16 years, she will get OAS for life.

If she did not work -- did not contribute to SS -- it may be moredificult to get more than six months worth of payments.

[ReneeT]

any amount will be welcome... and yes she has worked in the USA for several years..not sure about 16 and .not necessarily full time but... it is worthwhile her pursuing the matter... do you have any idea what the full Canadian age pension amount is these days?
cheers again and thank you for your very helpful info.

[agnelson]

Full OAS is about C$490 per month. So she would be getting about C$50 per month.

US residents can have their OAS deposited directly in their US bank (already converted to USD at the prevailing rate). Just for her information, this OAS would be treated like SS payments (reported on the same line) 85% includable in income, like SS. OAS (and CPP) paid to US residents is NOT subject to any Cdn tax, nor is it subject to any income "clawback".

To get the payment she needs to show that she accumulated 64 quarters of SS contributions (this info should be easy to find), along with some proof of the 4 years she spent as an adult in canada. She will take this to her local SS office to get things started.

As I said, once Canada has determined eligibility, they will in all likelihood (although they are not bound to), pay her retroactively to age 65, so she might get a nice cheque out of it.