Canada: almost nobody receives the maximum CPP
The single most useful Canadian number is not the maximum. It is the gap between the maximum and what people actually get.
The maximum CPP retirement pension at 65 is 1,507.65 dollars a month as at January 2026. The average actually being paid is 877.01 dollars, a little over half. Earning the maximum requires contributing at the ceiling for most of your working life, and most people do not. If you are modelling a retirement on this page, the average is the safer anchor unless you have checked your own statement of contributions.
Old Age Security sits on top and works differently: it is residence-based rather than contribution-based, and re-indexed quarterly. For the July to September 2026 quarter the maximum is 751.97 dollars a month at 65 to 74, rising to 827.17 at 75 and over.
Deferring is a real decision, and the two schemes differ
Both pensions reward waiting, at different rates:
- CPP falls by 0.6% a month if you start before 65, to a 36% reduction at 60, and rises by 0.7% a month if you wait, to a 42% increase at 70.
- OAS rises by 0.6% a month, to a 36% increase at 70, with no option to take it early.
So deferring CPP from 65 to 70 raises it by more than deferring OAS does, and the choice is separate for each.
The clawback is what makes the private pot complicated
OAS is subject to a recovery tax. Once net world income passes 95,323 dollars in 2026, you repay 15 cents of every dollar above it, and OAS is fully clawed back around 152,062 dollars.
That matters because of how registered accounts unwind. The year you turn 71 is the last in which you can contribute to an RRSP, after which it converts to a RRIF with a minimum withdrawal each year: 5.28% at 71, 6.82% at 80, 11.92% at 90 and 20% from 95. Those withdrawals are fully taxable income, they count toward the recovery tax threshold, and the minimum is compulsory whether you need the money or not.
The practical consequence is that a large RRSP can push a retiree into clawing back OAS in their seventies. A TFSA does not, because withdrawals are not income. For 2026 the RRSP dollar limit is 33,810 dollars and the TFSA annual limit is 7,000 dollars, and which of the two you fill first is the decision this calculator cannot make for you.