Canada Pension Plan (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-8)

Retirement Pension

Marginal note:Amount of retirement pension

• 46 (1) Subject to this section, a retirement pension payable to a contributor is a basic monthly amount equal to the aggregate of

  • (a) 25% of their average monthly pensionable earnings,

  • (b) 8.33% of their first additional monthly pensionable earnings, and

  • (c) 33.33% of their second additional monthly pensionable earnings.

• Marginal note:Special case

  (2) Subject to this section, the portion referred to in paragraph (1)(a) of the basic monthly amount of a retirement pension payable to a former disability pension recipient in respect of whom a division under section 55 or 55.1 is approved either before or after the commencement of the retirement pension, if the division reduces the retirement pension otherwise payable, is calculated by dividing

  • (a) the aggregate of

    • (i) the portion of the basic monthly amount of the retirement pension calculated in accordance with paragraph (1)(a) that would be payable to the contributor had their base unadjusted pensionable earnings not been subject to the division, multiplied by the number of months that have been excluded from the contributor’s contributory period by reason of disability, and

    • (ii) the portion of the basic monthly amount of the retirement pension calculated in accordance with paragraph (1)(a) that would be payable following the division, multiplied by the number of months in the contributor’s contributory period calculated in accordance with section 49

  by

  • (b) the aggregate of

    • (i) the number of months that have been excluded from the contributor’s contributory period by reason of disability, and

    • (ii) the number of months in the contributor’s contributory period calculated in accordance with section 49.

• Marginal note:Upward or downward adjustment factor — up to 2010

  (3) Subject to subsections (4) to (6), a retirement pension that becomes payable after December 31, 1986 and before January 1, 2011 commencing with a month other than the month in which the contributor reaches 65 years of age is a basic monthly amount equal to the basic monthly amount calculated in accordance with subsection (1) or (2), as the case may be, adjusted by a factor fixed by the Minister, on the advice of the Chief Actuary of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, to reflect the time interval between the month in which the retirement pension commences and the month in which the contributor reached, or would reach, 65 years of age, but the time interval is deemed never to exceed five years.

• Marginal note:Upward or downward adjustment factor — after 2010

  (3.1) Subject to subsections (4) to (6), a retirement pension that becomes payable after December 31, 2010 commencing with a month other than the month in which the contributor reaches 65 years of age is a basic monthly amount equal to the basic monthly amount calculated in accordance with subsection (1) or (2), as the case may be, adjusted by a factor fixed under subsection (7).

• Marginal note:Exception if division of unadjusted pensionable earnings increases retirement pension

  (4) Subject to subsection (5), if, as a result of a division of unadjusted pensionable earnings under section 55 or 55.1, a retirement pension that was payable increases, the adjustment factor applicable after the increase to the basic monthly amount of the retirement pension calculated in accordance with subsection (1) or (2), as the case may be, instead of the adjustment factor referred to in subsection (3) or (3.1), as the case may be, shall be determined by the formula

  [(F1 × P1) + (F2 × E)] / P2

  where

  F1

  is an amount equal to the adjustment factor referred to in subsection (3) or (3.1), as the case may be, at the time the retirement pension first became payable;

  P1

  is the basic monthly amount of the retirement pension calculated in accordance with subsection (1) or (2), as the case may be, before the division;

  F2

  is the lesser of

  • (a) an amount equal to what the adjustment factor referred to in subsection (3) or (3.1), as the case may be, would have been if the retirement pension had commenced in the month in which the increase commences to be payable, and

  • (b) 1;

  E

  is equal to the excess of P2 over P1; and

  P2

  is the basic monthly amount of the retirement pension immediately following the division.

• Marginal note:Exception if survivor’s pension reduced

  (5) Unless otherwise provided by an agreement under section 80, if a person receives a retirement pension under this Act and a survivor’s pension under this Act and the survivor’s pension is at any time reduced from its full amount under subsection 58(2), any downward adjustment factor resulting from the application of subsection (3), (3.1) or (4) at that time shall not be applied to the whole of the basic monthly amount of the retirement pension calculated in accordance with subsection (1) or (2), as the case may be, but only to the amount remaining when that basic monthly amount is reduced by the product obtained by multiplying

  • (a) the amount by which the survivor’s pension has been reduced

  by

  • (b) the ratio that the Pension Index for the year in which the retirement pension first commenced to be payable bears to the Pension Index for the year in which the survivor’s pension is reduced.

• Marginal note:Exception if division after age 65 precedes commencement of retirement pension

  (6) If, after a person has reached 65 years of age but before the person commences to receive a retirement pension, a division of unadjusted pensionable earnings takes place under section 55 or 55.1 in respect of that person, the upward adjustment factor referred to in subsection (3) or (3.1), as the case may be, to be applied to any increase in the retirement pension that is attributable to the division shall be based on the time interval between the taking place of the division and the commencement of the retirement pension, and shall not take into account the time interval between the month in which the person reaches 65 years of age and the month in which the division takes place.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (7) For the purposes of subsection (3.1), the Governor in Council may make regulations fixing one or more adjustment factors or the methods of calculating them — including factors or methods that may apply on specified dates — to reflect the time interval between the month in which the retirement pension commences and the month in which the contributor reached, or would reach, 65 years of age, but the time interval is deemed never to exceed five years.

• Marginal note:Condition

  (8) The Governor in Council may only make regulations under subsection (7) or repeal them on the recommendation of the Minister of Finance and only if the lieutenant governor in council of each of at least two thirds of the included provinces, as defined in subsection 114(1), having in total not less than two thirds of the population of all of the included provinces, has signified the consent of that province to the making or repeal of the regulations.

• Marginal note:Amendment

  (9) Regulations made under subsection (7) may only be amended in accordance with subsection 113.1(14).

Marginal note:Amount of average monthly pensionable earnings

47 Where a retirement pension becomes payable to a contributor commencing with any month before January, 1976, his average monthly pensionable earnings are an amount calculated by dividing his total pensionable earnings by the basic number of contributory months.

Marginal note:Average monthly pensionable earnings in case of pension commencing after December, 1975

• 48 (1) Subject to subsections (2), (3) and (4), where a retirement pension becomes payable to a contributor commencing with any month after December, 1975, his average monthly pensionable earnings are an amount calculated by dividing his total pensionable earnings by the total number of months in his contributory period or by the basic number of contributory months, whichever is the greater.

• Marginal note:Deductions in calculating average monthly pensionable earnings of certain months during child raising years

  (2) In calculating the average monthly pensionable earnings of a contributor in accordance with subsection (1) for the purpose of calculating or recalculating benefits payable for a month commencing on or after January 1, 1978, there may be deducted

  • (a) from the total number of months in a contributor’s contributory period, those months during which he was a family allowance recipient and during which his pensionable earnings were less than his average monthly pensionable earnings calculated without regard to subsections (3) and (4), but no such deduction shall reduce the number of months in his contributory period to less than the basic number of contributory months, except

    • (i) for the purpose of calculating a disability benefit in respect of a contributor who is deemed to have become disabled for the purposes of this Act after December 31, 1997, in which case the words “the basic number of contributory months” shall be read as “48 months”,

    • (i.1) for the purpose of calculating a disability benefit in respect of a contributor who is deemed to have become disabled for the purposes of this Act in 1997, in which case the words “the basic number of contributory months” shall be read as “24 months”, and

    • (ii) for the purpose of calculating a death benefit and a survivor’s pension, in which case the words “the basic number of contributory months” shall be read as “thirty-six months”; and

  • (b) from his total pensionable earnings, the aggregate of his pensionable earnings attributable to the months deducted pursuant to paragraph (a).

• Marginal note:Deductions allowed where contributory period ends after age 65

  (3) Where a contributor’s contributory period ends after the month preceding the month in which he reaches sixty-five years of age and the total number of months in his contributory period remaining after the deduction under paragraph (2)(a) exceeds the basic number of contributory months, in calculating his average monthly pensionable earnings in accordance with subsection (1) there shall be deducted

  • (a) from the total number of months remaining in his contributory period, the number of months therein after he reached sixty-five years of age or by which the total exceeds the basic number of contributory months, whichever is the lesser; and

  • (b) from the contributor’s total pensionable earnings remaining after the deduction under paragraph (2)(b), the aggregate of the contributor’s pensionable earnings for a number of months equal to the number of months deducted under paragraph (a), for which months that aggregate is less than — or, if not less than, then equal to — the aggregate of the contributor’s pensionable earnings for any other like number of months in the contributor’s contributory period other than for months for which a deduction has already been made under subsection (2).

• Marginal note:Deductions allowed where number of months remaining exceeds 120

  (4) Where the number of months remaining after making any deduction under subsection (2) or (3) from the total number of months in the contributory period of a contributor exceeds one hundred and twenty, in calculating his average monthly pensionable earnings in accordance with subsection (1) there shall be deducted

  • (a) from the number of months remaining, a number of months equal to the lesser of

    • (i) subject to subsection (5), if the retirement pension or other benefit becomes payable commencing with a month before January 2012, fifteen per cent of the number remaining — and sixteen per cent commencing with a month after December 2011 and before January 2014 and seventeen per cent commencing with a month after December 2013 — and, if that per cent includes a fraction of a month, the fraction shall be taken to be a complete month, and

    • (ii) the number of months by which the number remaining exceeds one hundred and twenty; and

  • (b) from the contributor’s total pensionable earnings remaining after making any deduction under subsection (2) or (3), the aggregate of the contributor’s pensionable earnings for a number of months equal to the number of months deducted under paragraph (a), for which months that aggregate is less than — or, if not less than, then equal to — the contributor’s aggregate pensionable earnings for any like number of months in the contributor’s contributory period other than for months for which a deduction has already been made under subsection (2) or (3).

• Marginal note:Exception — same percentage

  (5) The percentage used in a calculation of the amount of average monthly pensionable earnings under subsection (4) is to be used in the calculation of other benefits based on that amount.

Marginal note:First additional monthly pensionable earnings

48.1 The first additional monthly pensionable earnings of a contributor are an amount calculated by

• (a) in the case where their first additional contributory period is less than or equal to 480 months, dividing their total first additional pensionable earnings by 480; or

• (b) in the case where their first additional contributory period exceeds 480 months, dividing the aggregate of their 480 highest first additional pensionable earnings for a month by 480.

Marginal note:Second additional monthly pensionable earnings

48.2 The second additional monthly pensionable earnings of a contributor are an amount calculated by

• (a) in the case where their second additional contributory period is less than or equal to 480 months, dividing their total second additional pensionable earnings by 480; or

• (b) in the case where their second additional contributory period exceeds 480 months, dividing the aggregate of their 480 highest second additional pensionable earnings for a month by 480.

Marginal note:Contributory period

49 The contributory period of a contributor is the period commencing January 1, 1966 or when he reaches eighteen years of age, whichever is the later, and ending

• (a) where a benefit other than a disability pension commences before the end of 1986, when he reaches sixty-five years of age, or if he makes a contribution for earnings after he reaches sixty-five years of age, with the month for which he last made such a contribution, and in any case not later than the month in which he dies, or

• (b) where a benefit other than a disability pension or a post-retirement disability benefit commences after the end of 1986, with the earliest of

  • (i) the month preceding the month in which he reaches seventy years of age,

  • (ii) the month in which he dies, or

  • (iii) the month preceding the month in which the retirement pension commences,

but excluding

• (c) any month that was excluded from the contributor’s contributory period under this Act or under a provincial pension plan by reason of disability, and

• (d) in relation to any benefits payable under this Act for any month after December, 1977, any month for which the contributor was a family allowance recipient in a year for which the contributor’s base unadjusted pensionable earnings were equal to or less than the contributor’s basic exemption for the year.

Marginal note:First additional contributory period

49.1 The first additional contributory period of a contributor is the period commencing January 1, 2019 or when they reach 18 years of age, whichever is the later, and ending with the earliest of

• (a) the month preceding the month in which they reach 70 years of age,

• (b) the month in which they die, and

• (c) the month preceding the month in which the retirement pension commences.

Marginal note:Second additional contributory period

49.2 The second additional contributory period of a contributor is the period commencing January 1, 2024 or when they reach 18 years of age, whichever is the later, and ending with the earliest of

• (a) the month preceding the month in which they reach 70 years of age,

• (b) the month in which they die, and

• (c) the month preceding the month in which the retirement pension commences.