Can I Receive OAS if I Move Abroad?
Indefinitely, if you lived in Canada for at least twenty years after turning eighteen. Below that threshold, payment continues for six months after the month you leave and then stops until you return. The Guaranteed Income Supplement stops after six months regardless.
- The answer:: Twenty years of residence after eighteen allows payment anywhere, indefinitely. Fewer years means payment ends six months after departure.
- The trap:: Assuming the Supplement travels too. It stops six months after departure whatever your residence history.
- The recommendation:: Count your residence years before committing to a move, because the twenty-year line is absolute and cannot be met retroactively.
Where the AI summary above gets this wrong
"Old Age Security stops if you leave Canada."
That's surface-true. Here's what it misses:
- Twenty years of residence changes the answer — Someone with twenty years in Canada after eighteen receives OAS anywhere in the world for life.
- Below that there is a six-month grace period — Payment continues for the month of departure and six months after, then stops until residence resumes.
- The Supplement never travels — The Guaranteed Income Supplement stops six months after departure regardless of how long you lived in Canada.
01 The twenty-year line
A person who resided in Canada for at least twenty years after turning eighteen can receive Old Age Security anywhere in the world, indefinitely. The pension continues to be indexed and continues to be paid, and Service Canada should be told of the new address so payments are not interrupted.
Below twenty years, payment continues for the month of departure and the six months following, then stops. It resumes if the person returns to reside in Canada, and the residence rules that govern this are in the OAS residency requirement.
Source: Old Age Security: Deciding when to start your pension
02 What the Supplement does
The Guaranteed Income Supplement is a residence-based benefit for people living in Canada and does not follow you abroad at all. It stops six months after departure, whatever the length of prior residence.
That matters most to the people least able to absorb it, because a person receiving the Supplement is by definition on a low income. Its eligibility rules are in GIS eligibility.
Shows: what a given amount of additional taxable income costs you in tax at your marginal rate, and what you keep. Ignores: provincial surtaxes, credits that phase out with income, and any effect on income-tested benefits.
Source: Old Age Security: Deciding when to start your pension
03 Tax on payments abroad
A non-resident receiving Old Age Security is subject to Canadian non-resident withholding tax, at a rate that treaties often reduce. The recovery tax on higher incomes continues to apply and is administered through a separate return.
Where a social security agreement exists with the destination country, it may also affect eligibility and coordination — the coverage is described in social security agreements.
Telling Service Canada the new address before leaving is the practical step that keeps payments moving. Old Age Security can be deposited to an account in many countries directly, in local currency, which avoids both the exchange cost of a Canadian transfer and the risk of a cheque arriving somewhere you no longer are.
Source: Leaving Canada (emigrants)
The twenty-year line is the single most consequential number for anyone retiring abroad, and it is not negotiable. Nineteen years and eleven months means the pension stops after six months away. Counting properly before booking a one-way flight is worth an afternoon.
FAQ
Can I receive OAS if I move abroad?
Indefinitely, if you resided in Canada for at least twenty years after turning eighteen. Below that, payment continues for six months after the month you leave and then stops.
Does the Guaranteed Income Supplement continue abroad?
No. It stops six months after departure regardless of how long you lived in Canada, because it is a benefit for residents.
Is OAS taxed if I live outside Canada?
Yes. Canadian non-resident withholding tax applies, at a rate that a tax treaty with your country of residence often reduces.
Sources
Regulator references
- Old Age Security: Deciding when to start your pension · Government of Canada · 2025States the 0.6% per month increase for deferring OAS past 65.Last verified: 2026-09-07
- Leaving Canada (emigrants) · Canada Revenue Agency · 2025Departure tax, deemed disposition and how registered accounts are treated on emigration.Last verified: 2026-09-07
Calculator unit tests · the assertions this page's worked example is checked against, and their last result
Changelog
- 2026-09-07 — initial publish (new format)
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Jordan Reeves
Founder of Talk Through Wealth. A software engineer for over a decade before turning to retirement planning, Jordan built the projection engine after watching family members get fragmented, country-by-country advice that never reconciled. He writes about retirement the way the engine computes it: month-by-month, lifetime-long, and skeptical of any rule of thumb that hasn't been run through the math.