Employment and Social Development Canada announced Tuesday an increase in the quarterly amounts for Old Age Security (OAS) benefits.
OAS benefits, which consist of the basic OAS pension, the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) and the Allowances, will increase by 0.9 percent.
The maximum basic OAS pension paid to people 65 years of age and older will increase by $5.03 — to $563.74 per month from $558.71 — starting on October 1.
OAS benefit amounts are reviewed quarterly (in January, April, July and October) and revised as required to reflect increases in the cost of living, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) set by Statistics Canada.
The Old Age Security Act guarantees that OAS benefits do not go down, even when there is a decrease in the CPI. If the average CPI surpasses the previous level in the future, OAS benefits will go up again.