Turning 65 does not automatically stop Canada Pension Plan (CPP) deductions. Whether you keep contributing depends on your age, whether you are working, and whether you have already started receiving a CPP or Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) retirement pension. CPP contributions stop no later than age 70, even if you continue working. From ages 60 to 64, working CPP retirement pension recipients must continue contributing on pensionable earnings. From ages 65 to 69, you can stop contributing if you are receiving a CPP or QPP retirement pension and make the required election.
CPP Contributions Stop at Age 70
Once you reach 70, you no longer contribute to CPP. For an employee, CPP deductions continue through the last pay dated in the month you turn 70. Your employer stops deducting CPP after that month, regardless of whether you continue working.
This age limit also applies when you have delayed starting your retirement pension. You can work beyond 70, but those later earnings no longer produce CPP contributions. If you are deciding when to start collecting, the age you can collect CPP is a separate question from when contributions end.
Can You Stop Paying CPP at 65?
Age 65 gives some workers a choice, but simply turning 65 is not enough. To elect to stop CPP contributions while employed, you must be at least 65 but under 70, receive a CPP or QPP retirement pension, and have pensionable employment earnings that would otherwise require CPP contributions.
Eligible employees can make the election to stop contributing using Form CPT30. You give a copy to your employer and send the original to the Canada Revenue Agency. The election takes effect on the first day of the month after you give the completed form to your employer. Until the election takes effect, your employer continues making the required deductions.
If you have several employers, the election applies across them rather than letting you contribute at one job and opt out at another. The CPT30 form can also be used to revoke an earlier election and restart contributions, subject to the applicable rules.
What Happens If You Collect CPP and Keep Working?
Starting your CPP pension does not automatically end contributions. If you are working and receiving CPP from ages 60 to 64, CPP contributions remain mandatory on pensionable employment or self-employment earnings. From 65 through 69, you can keep contributing or make the election to stop.
Contributions made while you work and collect CPP can create a CPP Post-Retirement Benefit. Each qualifying year of contributions can generate an additional lifetime monthly benefit, which is added to your existing CPP retirement income. Continuing to contribute after 65 can therefore increase future CPP income, although the contribution choice depends on your own circumstances.
There is another situation that is easy to confuse with permanently stopping CPP. An employer stops regular deductions once you reach the applicable annual CPP contribution maximum for that employment. That only stops further deductions for the remainder of that year. It does not mean you have permanently stopped participating in CPP.
Stopping CPP When You Are Self-Employed
Self-employed workers aged 65 to 69 who receive a CPP or QPP retirement pension can also elect to stop contributing, but the process differs from the employee process. Someone who is only self-employed generally makes the election through the applicable section of Schedule 8 with their income tax and benefit return, rather than using Form CPT30.
Because self-employed Canadians generally pay both the employee and employer portions, stopping contributions can have a larger immediate effect on what they pay. The CPP rules for self-employed Canadians explain how that side of the system works.
Before assuming your CPP deduction should disappear at 65, check whether you have actually started a CPP or QPP retirement pension and whether you have completed the required election. Otherwise, eligible pensionable earnings can continue attracting CPP contributions until age 70.
