More than 10,000 Toronto seniors missing out on old age benefits: report

More than 10,000 low-income Torontonians are not accessing the Old Age Security (OAS) benefits they're entitled to, according to new research by Wellesley Institute and Open Policy Ontario.

The Unclaimed Benefits report further shows that certain groups, including racialized individuals and those with limited proficiency in English or French, are the most likely to be missing out. 

"Most people think of OAS as a very simple program. You turn 65 and you apply and as long as you've been in Canada for a good while, then you qualify," said John Stapleton, policy fellow with the National Institute on Aging.

"That's actually not the case," he said.

The application process for many can be very complex, he said, noting the higher number of immigrants in Toronto.

"The rules that affect immigrants are very different than those that apply to people who have lived here all their lives. And that's perhaps the source of the confusion," Stapleton said.

The OAS program provides a monthly pension to Canadian citizens or legal residents aged 65 or older who have lived in Canada for at least 10 years since the age of 18. 

According to the report, 83 per cent of older Torontonians were receiving OAS in 2020. Among visible minorities in Toronto, the uptake level was 78 per cent. For those in Toronto with low English or French language skills, it was 80 per cent. Among immigrants in Toronto who have arrived since 1980, it was 76 per cent. 

The report uses survey and census data from Statistics Canada to examine OAS uptake among Toronto residents and further breaks this data down by income, immigration status, visible minority status and language proficiency. 

The report aims to highlight the importance of making the process of applying for the program easier, said Christine Sheppard, researcher at Wellesley Institute.

"The key thing is understanding that there is such a large number of low income older folks in Toronto who are eligible for these benefits and are missing out and that these benefits are really important and could help them thrive and live a healthier life," she said.

Eligible individuals can choose to delay receiving their OAS pension in exchange for a higher monthly amount, a spokesperson for Employment and Social Development Canada said in a statement.

"This voluntary deferral provision gives individuals the option of waiting as late as age 70 to start collecting their OAS pension and to increase their pension by 0.6 percent for each month they delay it, for a total of 7.2 percent for each full year of deferral," the spokesperson said, noting that the percentage of seniors receiving the pension at age 70 and over was 99 per cent of the estimated total number of eligible seniors aged 70 and over in the 2023-24 fiscal year.

The research notes that it is possible that the recovery tax and strategic deferrals to maximize the monthly pension payout play a role for some individuals who have not yet turned 70. However, there was also a sizeable number of deferrals among eligible individuals aged 70 and older — meaning a sizeable number of people are not claiming OAS even once deferrals no longer mean maximizing a payout and simply mean not claiming a payout.