Federal and provincial governments have agreed to a slew of amendments to the Canada Pension Plan.
These include doubling the death benefit for some contributors, introducing a partial child benefit for part-time students, extending the eligibility for the disabled contributors children’s benefit beyond a parent’s 65th birthday, and ending eligibility for survivor pensions if a couple is legally separated.
These changes are not expected to impact contribution rates.
A $5,000 death benefit will be payable to contributors who have no survivors and have never collected CPP payments. This is compared to the standard $2,500 death benefit all other eligible contributors will continue to receive.
The government will also introduce a partial survival child benefit for part-time students under 25 and attending a recognized post-secondary institution. The CPP surviving child benefit is currently only payable if the child was under 18, or under age 25 and attending a post-secondary school full-time.
In addition, the amendments will extend eligibility for the disabled contributor’s children’s benefit to children until age 18 or 25 if they are attending a recognized post-secondary school regardless of the parent’s age. The benefit currently ends when the disabled parent reaches age 65.
Currently, couples who are legally separated but still legally married or in a common-law relationship may be eligible for survivor pensions when their partner dies. But a CPP amendment will end eligibility for survivor pensions as soon as couples legally separate.
Budget 2024 did not provide an estimate of each amendment’s financial impact.