Who Is Eligible for Old Age Security in Canada?

Old Age Security eligibility is easy to misunderstand because having worked in Canada is not one of the basic requirements. Someone with decades of employment may not qualify if the residence rules are not met, while someone who never worked in Canada can qualify based on age, legal status and Canadian residence. In 2026, you can generally qualify for Old Age Security (OAS) while living in Canada if you are at least 65, are a Canadian citizen or legal resident when your pension is approved, and have lived in Canada for at least 10 years after age 18. Different residence requirements apply if you live outside Canada.

The number of years you have lived in Canada also matters after you qualify. Ten qualifying years can be enough for someone living in Canada to receive a partial pension, but most people need 40 years of Canadian residence after age 18 to receive a full OAS pension under the 2026 rules.

OAS Eligibility Requirements If You Live in Canada

Under the 2026 OAS eligibility rules, a person living in Canada generally needs to meet three basic conditions. You must be 65 or older, be a Canadian citizen or legal resident when your OAS pension is approved, and have resided in Canada for at least 10 years after turning 18.

These requirements come from Canada’s Old Age Security Act, which sets the legal foundation for full and partial OAS pensions. The residence requirement is especially important because OAS is not a pension that you earn through payroll contributions. Our broader explanation of how Old Age Security works covers that difference in more detail.

Turning 65 therefore solves only the age part of the test. Citizenship or legal residence and your Canadian residence history still matter. We think this is the most useful way to approach OAS eligibility because it prevents the common mistake of treating age 65 as automatic qualification.

How Many Years Must You Live in Canada to Qualify for OAS?

For someone living in Canada, at least 10 years of Canadian residence after age 18 can establish eligibility for a partial OAS pension under the 2026 rules. However, 10 years does not normally produce a full pension.

A full OAS pension generally requires 40 years of Canadian residence after age 18 for people qualifying under the current residence rules. If you have between 10 and 39 qualifying years and live in Canada, you may receive a partial pension instead. The 2026 OAS payment rules calculate a partial pension according to your qualifying years of Canadian residence divided by 40.

For example, the government calculation for 2026 shows that 20 qualifying years would produce 20/40, or 50%, of the applicable full OAS pension. This is a calculation example rather than a separate eligibility threshold. Someone with 20 years is not automatically entitled to 50% merely because of age. The other OAS requirements still have to be met.

There are also special rules for some people connected to the pre-July 1977 OAS rules, so 40 years is not the only legal route to a full pension. For most people approaching OAS today, however, residence after age 18 is the relevant calculation. Our guide to OAS residency requirements goes deeper into what counts toward the residence test.

One detail deserves attention before starting a partial pension. Under the 2026 Old Age Security Act, once a partial OAS pension has been approved, its fraction cannot later increase because you accumulate more years of Canadian residence. That makes the timing of a partial pension more consequential than simply asking whether you have reached the 10-year minimum.

You Do Not Need a Canadian Work History to Qualify

OAS eligibility is not based on how many years you worked, how much you earned or how much Canada Pension Plan (CPP) you contributed. Under the 2026 rules, you can qualify even if you have never worked in Canada. You can also continue working after 65 and receive OAS if you otherwise qualify.

This separates OAS from CPP. CPP is largely built around pensionable employment or self-employment and contributions, whereas OAS uses residence as a central eligibility measure. Our CPP vs. OAS comparison explains how the two systems differ, and qualifying recipients can receive CPP and OAS at the same time.

For eligibility purposes, we would therefore pay much more attention to gaps in Canadian residence than gaps in employment. A person who spent years out of the workforce may still have uninterrupted Canadian residence for OAS purposes.

OAS Eligibility If You Live Outside Canada

The residence threshold changes when you are living abroad. Under the 2026 rules, you generally need to have been a Canadian citizen or legal resident of Canada on the day before you left and to have accumulated at least 20 years of Canadian residence after age 18.

That is twice the basic residence period required for a person currently living in Canada. The Old Age Security Act reflects this difference by requiring a person with fewer than 20 years of residence to be resident in Canada immediately before approval of a partial pension.

The rule also matters after OAS has started. In 2026, a recipient who does not satisfy the requirements for receiving OAS abroad may have payments stop after being outside Canada for more than six months. People planning a long-term move should check their residence record before leaving rather than assuming an existing OAS pension will continue indefinitely.

Our guide to receiving OAS outside Canada deals specifically with payments abroad.

Time in Another Country Can Sometimes Help You Qualify

Having fewer than 10 or 20 years in Canada does not always end the eligibility question. Canada has international social security agreements that can allow qualifying periods from another country to help a person meet the minimum residence requirement for OAS.

Under the 2026 international pension rules, periods of residence or contribution recognized under another country’s system can sometimes be treated as Canadian residence for the purpose of meeting OAS eligibility requirements. The exact treatment depends on the agreement Canada has with that country.

There is an important limit to understand. Using foreign periods to meet the minimum qualification requirement does not necessarily turn those years into Canadian residence when calculating the amount of your partial OAS pension. The government’s current OAS guidance gives an example of a person with eight Canadian years who uses two years under an international agreement to reach the 10-year eligibility requirement but receives an OAS pension based on 8/40 of the full amount.

That can make a large difference for immigrants who spent much of their adult life in a country that has a social security agreement with Canada. Instead of assuming you are ineligible because your Canadian residence falls short, check whether an agreement covers your previous country of residence or employment.

Some Time Working Outside Canada Can Count as Canadian Residence

There are also circumstances where time physically outside Canada can count toward OAS residence. Under the 2026 rules, certain employment abroad for a Canadian employer can qualify when the required conditions are met.

The current OAS eligibility rules for employment abroad include situations where the person returns to Canada within six months after the qualifying employment ends. Another route can apply when the person turns 65 while still working abroad and maintains Canadian residence. Supporting proof of employment and, where applicable, proof of returning to Canada is required.

Related provisions can apply to certain spouses, common-law partners and dependants, as well as some Canadians working abroad for international organizations. These are fact-specific rules. We would not count an overseas period toward OAS simply because the employer happened to be Canadian without checking whether the actual conditions are satisfied.

Does Your Income Affect OAS Eligibility?

Income does not work like the residence test. You do not need a minimum salary or lifetime earnings record to qualify for OAS, and being retired from employment is not required. However, sufficiently high income can reduce your pension through the OAS recovery tax and eventually recover the entire payment.

For the July 2026 to June 2027 recovery period, recovery begins when 2025 net world income exceeds $93,454. The 2026 maximum recovery threshold is $152,062 of 2025 income for people aged 65 to 74 and $157,923 for people aged 75 or older. At those upper thresholds, the OAS pension can be fully recovered.

This is one area where the wording matters. Having a strong employment history does not make you more eligible for OAS, but income can still determine how much of an otherwise payable pension you keep. The 2026 OAS recovery-tax rules use net world income and apply the recovery through deductions from OAS payments.

For a deeper explanation of the income calculation, see our guide to the OAS clawback. The main eligibility lesson is simpler: do not confuse an income-related reduction with the residence and legal-status requirements used to establish entitlement to OAS.

Do Permanent Residents Qualify for OAS?

Canadian citizenship is not mandatory. A legal resident of Canada can qualify for OAS in 2026 when the age and residence requirements are also satisfied.

That means permanent residents can qualify, but becoming a permanent resident does not immediately create OAS eligibility. Someone who immigrates to Canada later in life still needs enough qualifying residence after age 18, unless an applicable international social security agreement or another qualifying rule helps meet the minimum.

This matters because immigration status and OAS residence are related but separate questions. Holding legal status tells you whether one part of the eligibility test is satisfied. It does not tell you how many qualifying years will be used to determine whether you receive a full pension, partial pension or no OAS yet.

Qualifying for OAS Does Not Automatically Mean You Receive the Maximum

Eligibility and payment amount are separate questions. Meeting the minimum 2026 eligibility requirements means you may qualify for OAS, but it does not guarantee the maximum monthly pension.

Residence history can produce a partial pension. Starting OAS later than 65 can increase the monthly amount under the 2026 deferral rules. Once payments begin, high income can reduce them through the recovery tax. In addition, OAS recipients aged 75 and older receive a higher maximum pension than those aged 65 to 74 under the 2026 rules.

That is why we would not use the published maximum OAS amount to estimate retirement income until eligibility and residence history have been checked first. Once those are clear, our explanation of how OAS is calculated and the OAS calculator can help with the amount side of the question.

What to Check Before You Apply

Start by reconstructing where you have lived since turning 18. Pay particular attention to years spent outside Canada, the date you established residence in Canada and any periods covered by a social security agreement or qualifying Canadian employment abroad. Those details can matter much more to OAS eligibility than your employment record.

Then confirm whether you are being automatically enrolled. Under the 2026 process, many people receive an enrolment letter around their 64th birthday when enough information is already available. If a month has passed since your 64th birthday without a letter, the current OAS application instructions direct you to contact Service Canada to find out whether you need to apply.

For anyone who does need to apply, residence history is one of the pieces of information requested. Our guide to applying for Old Age Security covers the application process separately.

Other Questions About OAS Eligibility

Can you qualify for OAS with less than 10 years in Canada?

Possibly. Under the 2026 rules, an international social security agreement may allow periods from another country to help you meet the minimum OAS qualification requirement. Certain periods of qualifying employment abroad can also count. Without an applicable exception, a person living in Canada generally needs at least 10 years of residence after age 18.

Can a Canadian citizen who lived abroad for most of their life get OAS?

Citizenship alone is not enough. OAS also has residence requirements. A Canadian citizen living outside Canada generally needs at least 20 years of Canadian residence after age 18 under the 2026 rules, although an international social security agreement may help in some cases.

Does owning a home in Canada make you eligible for OAS?

No. Owning Canadian property is not a substitute for meeting the 2026 OAS residence requirements. OAS eligibility looks at qualifying residence, along with age and legal-status requirements.

Can you qualify for OAS and GIS at the same time?

Yes, but GIS has additional requirements. In 2026, GIS is available to qualifying lower-income people aged 65 or older who receive OAS and live in Canada. Income and other conditions therefore matter for GIS even after OAS eligibility has been established. Our OAS vs. GIS guide explains the difference.

Can you receive OAS before age 65 because you retired early?

No. Under the 2026 OAS rules, the pension cannot normally start before age 65. Retiring from work earlier does not lower the OAS eligibility age. Someone planning retirement before 65 therefore needs other income to cover the period before OAS can begin.

The best first step is not to estimate the payment. Write down your Canadian residence history from age 18 onward and identify every extended period abroad. Once you know how many years may count, you can determine whether you meet the 2026 minimum residence requirement and whether you are likely looking at a full or partial OAS pension.