AndyBCbound

I am 14 years of retirement age I have lived in Canada now for 4 years paying the maximum CPP every year. I also have 28 qualifying pension contribution years in the UK ( 30 being the max that i need ) I maybe able to top up the last two years, so as I will receive a full British pension when I retire.
My question is can I claim BOTH the full British pension and the full Canadian one (once I have contributed 20 full years of CPP) at retirement age, or am I only allowed to claim one.

If I am only allowed one then there is no point in me topping up the UK one, I may as well forget it and claim the Canadian at retirement age.

Any help will be appreciated

Thanks Andy

Simon Legree

You can claim both. The only kicker is that your UK State Pension will be frozen at the amount it is when you qualify for it. No annual increases.

AndyBCbound

I kinda presumed the frozen part after reading other threads, but who know's what might change in the coming years, can you LEGALLY claim both, or do you just do it on QT, ie not informing either country

Alan2005

I thought it was frozen at the time you start to claim - which may be after you qualify. Not sure though.

Auld Yin

It's perfectly legal to claim both. Canadian OAS has nothing to do with CPP. They are two separate plans, one (OAS) paid from taxes and CPP bought with deductions from income.

AndyBCbound

I wouldn't be eligible for OAS unless I had been resident for 40 years If i ever reach 84

PMM

Hi


Actually you don't have to have 40 years for OAS. You require 10, then you would get 10/40th or at today's rate about 135 per month. 20 years a residence before 65 (depending on your age) you would get 50%

dgagitw

You can definitely claim both for the years spent in each country but there is some uncertainty as to whether you can claim both for overlapping years. E.g. if you spent 28 years in the UK followed by 20 years in Canada, you can definitely get 28 years worth of the UK one and 20 years of the Canadian one. If you make voluntary NICs to the UK for 2 years whilst in Canada, then you can probably claim the full UK one (30 years), but just possibly not.

JonboyE

My understanding ... I don't disagree with others above.

UK State pension. You are paid this according to your National insurance record. You need 30 contribution years to qualify for a full pension. If you have less than 30 years then the amount you receive is pro-rated. E.g. if you have 20 contribution years you receive 20/30ths of the full state pension. You receive the appropriate amount when you start claiming the pension but you will not receive annual increases while you are resident in Canada.

Canada State pension. This is made up of two components:

Old Age Security. To get full OAS you need to have lived in Canada for 40 years between the ages of 18 and 65. If you do not have 40 years of residence then the pension is pro-rated for the number of years resident. However, there are two minimum qualifications.

If you are living in Canada when you retire you must have lived in Canada for a minimum of ten years since the age of 18 as a legal resident.

If you are not living in Canada when you retire you must have lived in Canada for a minimum of twenty years since the age of 18 as a legal resident.

Canada Pension Plan. The only qualification is that you have paid some CPP premiums. CPP is intended to pay one quarter of your earned income up to a maximum limit. Most Canadians who have worked in Canada all their life receive something between $10,500 and $11,000 a year at the moment. If you work and pay premiums on a salary of $50k plus for twenty years you can expect about half that in today's money

Neither Canadian pension is dependent on any other pension (except as noted below). You will get annual cost of living increases and you can continue to receive them even if you cease living in Canada.

Making voluntary National Insurance contributions. Under current UK rules you can top up your NI contribution record by making voluntary NI contributions. Warning. There is a clause in the Canada / UK social security treaty that says that any year you are insured by UK National Insurance will not count as a year of residence in Canada for OAS purposes. I tried to find out from Service Canada if making voluntary NI contributions would count as being insured by UK National Insurance. The response I received was somewhat less than clear and very non-committal.

JonboyE

OAS is not intended to be a living income - just part of your retirement. If you qualify for OAS and do not have other sources of income you may receive a Guaranteed Income Supplement. This is a means tested benefit that tops your income up to a (barely) survivable level.

Hopefully no one here will need to worry about this.

dgagitw

Yep, that was what I was referring to.

Paul Bradley

Hi Andy,

It looks like you have already had some good guidance - I want to give you extra detail about your UK State Pension entitlement; it will not be reduced on the basis of any Canadian entitlement, is not means tested and is paid gross.

The UK State Pension is also made of 2 components: The Basic State Pension and the State Second Pension (though there are plans confirmed in the 2012 Budget to reform UK State Pensions and introduce a single flat rate pension starting from 2016).

As JonboyE Stated, your UK State Pension entitlement is based on your National Insurance Record (number of years). Your Basic State Pension is exactly as he described. You may also have entitlement to the State Second Pension which is also based on your earnings.

You can apply for a free state pension forecast via the Direct Gov website (even if you live abroad) - which will help you understand your personal record.

Hope this helps!

Paul