Regulations Amending the Old Age Security Regulations (Miscellaneous Program): SOR/2026-129

Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 160, Number 13

Registration
SOR/2026-129 June 12, 2026

OLD AGE SECURITY ACT

P.C. 2026-609 June 12, 2026

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Employment and Social Development, makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Old Age Security Regulations (Miscellaneous Program) under section 34footnote a of the Old Age Security Act footnote b.

Regulations Amending the Old Age Security Regulations (Miscellaneous Program)

Amendment

1 Section 8 of the Old Age Security Regulations footnote 1 is replaced by the following:

8 (1) When the amount of a benefit is adjusted quarterly under subsection 7(2), 12(2), 12.1(3), 22(4.2) or 22.1(4) of the Act,

(2) When the product obtained under subparagraph (1)(a)(i), as increased under subsection 7.1(1) of the Act, if applicable, or the product obtained under any one of subparagraphs (1)(a)(ii) to (v) contains a fraction of a dollar that is represented by three or more digits,

(3) Any ratio referred to in paragraph (1)(a) that is a decimal number represented by four digits after the decimal point is rounded as follows:

Coming into Force

2 These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Issues

When the Old Age Security (OAS) pension, the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) and the Allowance (ALW) were introduced under the authority of the Old Age Security Act (the Act), related provisions were introduced in the Old Age Security Regulations (OAS Regulations) to assist in calculating the benefits when the existing formulas resulted in fractions of cents. However, when legislative amendments were made in 1985 to introduce the Allowance for the Survivor (ALWS) and subsequently, for top-ups to the GIS, ALW and ALWS, the corresponding regulatory provisions were not made to reflect this intent. As a result, the current OAS Regulations do not explicitly include references to the rounding of the ALWS or the GIS, ALW and ALWS top-ups.

Objective

To remove any confusion related to how benefits are calculated under the OAS Regulations.

Description and rationale

The amendments add explicit rounding provisions to section 8 of the OAS Regulations to direct that, where the calculation of the ALWS and the top-ups to the GIS, ALW and ALWS result in a third decimal point, that the number be rounded in accordance with how the OAS pension, GIS and Allowance are calculated, i.e. if the third decimal is a 4 or lower, the number is rounded down and if the third decimal is 5 or higher, the number is rounded to the next cent.

The OAS pension and the GIS were the first benefits introduced to the OAS program in 1952 and 1967, respectively. Regulations were made at the time to direct how those benefits should be calculated and rounded. When the ALW benefit was subsequently introduced to the Act in 1975, rounding provisions were not required, as the benefit is made up of a “pension equivalent” and a “supplement equivalent,” amounts that were already being rounded in the OAS Regulations.

The ALWS was formalized in 1985 and was made up of the “pension equivalent” and a new amount described as the “supplement equivalent for the survivor.” While the Act was amended to describe how the benefit would be calculated, the rounding provisions in the OAS Regulations were not updated to reflect this new “supplement equivalent for the survivor.” This was a drafting omission that was not flagged as part of that process.

In 2011, the Supporting Vulnerable Seniors and Strengthening Canada’s Economy Act introduced an additional amount payable to the lowest income GIS, ALW and ALWS beneficiaries. These additional amounts are commonly referred to as “top-ups.” When the amendments to the Act were made, the necessary consequential amendments to the OAS Regulations to address rounding for the top-ups were inadvertently omitted. In 2016, when the GIS/ALW/ALWS top-ups were enhanced for single seniors as part of the federal Budget, the rounding provisions were again omitted.

This omission was identified during the testing and implementation of the Cúram system, a new upgraded IT system which replaced aging legacy technology and allows Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) to deliver benefits to Canadians in a digital manner. During the development phase of the new system, it was discovered that while the OAS legacy systems had been correctly programmed to apply a rounding methodology in accordance with the existing provisions for the OAS pension, the GIS, and the ALW, the enabling regulations had not been amended to include the proper cross references for the remaining benefits.

As both the Cúram system and the previous OAS legacy IT system were programmed to apply the intended rounding methodology, both systems have been rounding all OAS benefit entitlements since their introductions to the OAS program.

One-for-one rule and small business lens

The one-for-one rule does not apply to these amendments, as there is no change in administrative costs or burden to business.

The small business lens does not apply to these amendments, as there are no costs to small business.

Contact

Kevin Wagdin
Director
Old Age Security Policy and Legislation
Employment and Social Development Canada
140 Promenade du Portage
Place du Portage, Phase IV, 8th Floor
Gatineau, Quebec
K1A 0J9
Telephone: 613‑858‑9247
Email: kevin.wagdin@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca