GIS Calculator

The GIS uses your income for the previous calendar year as computed for income tax, with the changes set out in section 2 of the Old Age Security Act. Payments under the Act itself, including the OAS pension, the GIS and the Allowance, are left out. So are CPP death benefits and certain social assistance payments. CPP or QPP retirement pensions, workplace pensions, RRSP and RRIF withdrawals, interest, dividends and taxable capital gains all count, since they are part of your net income for tax.

Work income gets a special exemption. From your employment and self-employment income, after your CPP and EI contributions, the first $5,000 is not counted, and half of the amount between $5,000 and $15,000 is not counted either, so at most $10,000 is left out. ESDC's income limits already exclude the OAS pension and this exemption.

Example: a single person with $8,000 of CPP and $12,000 of wages. $8,500 of the wages is not counted, so the GIS counts $11,500 and pays $483.49 a month. Without the exemption the full $20,000 would count and the GIS would be $129.49.

For a couple, both spouses' incomes are added together, and each spouse has their own work income exemption. The Canada Revenue Agency says TFSA income and withdrawals have no effect on OAS or the GIS.

Under section 12 of the Old Age Security Act, a single pensioner's supplement goes down by $1 a month for each full $2 of monthly income, which is $1 a month for every $24 of yearly income. The top-up added in section 12.1 goes down by a further $1 a month for every $48 of yearly income above $2,000 until it is used up, which is why the GIS falls faster at low incomes: from $1,138.90 with no income to $556.90 at $10,000.

When both spouses receive OAS, the Act works from half of the couple's combined income: each spouse's GIS goes down by $1 a month for every $48 of combined yearly income, and the top-up by $1 for every $96 above $4,000. When the spouse receives neither OAS nor the Allowance, the Act sets aside an amount tied to the full OAS pension before reducing the GIS, so the supplement lasts up to $55,392 of combined income.

The tables, and this calculator, assume you receive the full OAS pension. With a partial pension (fewer than 40 years in Canada after 18) the GIS can be higher, and ESDC says not to use the tables in that case but to contact Service Canada. ESDC also notes that it determines the correct entitlement, and that in a dispute the Old Age Security Act and its regulations prevail over the tables.

You must be 65 or older, receive the OAS pension, live in Canada, not be under a sponsorship agreement and have income under the limit for your situation. Service Canada tries to enroll you automatically and writes shortly after your 64th birthday; if you have no letter a month after that birthday, contact Service Canada to find out whether you need to apply. The application asks about any reduction in employment or pension income in the last two years.

The GIS is added to your OAS pension as one tax-free monthly payment. It is reviewed each year from your tax return, and in July you get a letter with the new amount, so file by April 30 to avoid a gap. If you delay OAS past 65 you cannot get the GIS during the delay, and the GIS does not grow when you delay; use the OAS calculator to compare start ages. At higher incomes the OAS pension itself is taxed back, which the OAS clawback calculator works out.