Allowance and Allowance for the Survivor Calculator 2026
The two income-tested benefits for people aged 60 to 64, for October to December 2026: the Allowance, paid to the spouse of a GIS pensioner, and the Allowance for the Survivor.
Between 60 and 64, before Old Age Security begins, two federal benefits support people with a low income. The Allowance is paid to the spouse or common-law partner of a pensioner who receives the Guaranteed Income Supplement, on the basis of the couple's combined income. The Allowance for the Survivor is paid to a widow or widower who has not entered a new union, on their own income. Both require ten years of residence in Canada after eighteen, both are tax-free, both are renewed each July from the tax returns, and both end at 65, when the recipient moves to OAS and the GIS scale for their situation. Their formula works in two stages: the part that stands in for an OAS pension is reduced first, three dollars for every four dollars of monthly income, and the supplement part afterwards. The calculator applies both stages to the amounts of the current quarter.
You are 60 to 64
Both require 10 years in Canada after 18 and living in Canada.
CPP or QPP (including a survivor's pension), pensions, RRSP withdrawals, interest. Last year's figures.
The first $5,000 and half of the next $10,000 are not counted.
Their CPP, pensions and other income, after their own earnings exemption.
Your Allowance per month
$607.57
October to December 2026 · tax-free · $7,290.84 a year
The first part of the benefit replaces an OAS pension and falls by $3 for every $4 of monthly income; once it is gone, the supplement part falls by $1 for every $4 of combined income (Allowance) or $1 for every $2 (survivor). The benefit stops at 65, when OAS and GIS take over. Method.
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Updated for 2026 · Last verified 2026-10-05 · Sources: Service Canada, Old Age Security Act
Amounts by income, October to December 2026
The income in the first column is the couple's combined income for the Allowance and the survivor's own income for the Allowance for the Survivor, in both cases without any OAS benefit. The middle column gives the GIS paid to the pensioner spouse at the same combined income.
| Annual income | Allowance | Spouse's GIS | Allowance for the Survivor |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0 | $1,448.06 | $685.56 | $1,726.18 |
| $4,000 | $1,199.06 | $685.56 | $1,436.18 |
| $8,000 | $909.06 | $644.56 | $1,103.18 |
| $12,000 | $648.07 | $635.57 | $799.77 |
| $16,000 | $557.57 | $557.57 | $631.27 |
| $20,000 | $474.57 | $474.57 | $464.27 |
| $26,000 | $349.57 | $349.57 | $214.27 |
| $32,000 | $224.57 | $262.92 | $0.00 |
| $40,000 | $57.57 | $262.92 | $0.00 |
Two benefits for the years before 65
OAS cannot start before 65, which leaves a gap for the younger spouse of a low-income pensioner and for a person widowed in their early sixties. Parliament filled it with two benefits under Part III of the Old Age Security Act. Both are paid from 60 to the month before 65, both require 10 years of residence in Canada after 18 and residence in Canada at the time, and neither depends on contributions.
The Allowance
It is paid to the spouse or common-law partner of a pensioner who receives the Guaranteed Income Supplement. In practice the couple applies jointly, and the benefit is calculated on the household's combined income. At zero income it is worth the OAS pension plus the couple rate of the supplement and its top-up, which is the $1,448.06 Service Canada publishes. At $12,000 of combined income, the Allowance comes to $648.07 and the pensioner's GIS to $635.57.
The Allowance for the Survivor
It is paid to a person whose spouse or common-law partner has died and who has not entered a new union. The deceased spouse did not need to have received OAS. The survivor's own income counts, including a CPP or QPP survivor pension, which often reduces it substantially. Its maximum of $1,726.18 is higher than the Allowance because it is built on the single rate of the supplement rather than the couple rate.
How income reduces them
The formula of section 22 works in two stages, on monthly income. In the first stage, the part of the benefit that stands in for an OAS pension falls by $3 for every $4 of income, while the supplement part is untouched. Once monthly income reaches four-thirds of the OAS pension (rounded as the Act requires, $1,020 a month this quarter), that first part is exhausted and the supplement part starts to fall: by $1 for every $4 of income above that level for the Allowance, by $1 for every $2 for the Allowance for the Survivor. A top-up, worth the same as the GIS top-up, is reduced separately by $1 for every $4 of income above $4,000 a year for a couple or $2,000 for a survivor.
The steeper slope for survivors is the reason the two benefits stop at different incomes: a combined $42,768 for the Allowance, $31,152 for the Allowance for the Survivor. The calculator applies both stages and reaches exactly those published limits.
Earnings and other income
The same definition of income as for GIS applies: the first $5,000 of employment or self-employment income is exempt, then half of the next $10,000. A survivor of 62 who works part time and earns $12,000 is counted as earning $3,500. Withdrawals from a TFSA are not income. Withdrawals from an RRSP are, which is why a household expecting the Allowance can lose much of it in the year of a large RRSP withdrawal.
At 65 the recipient moves to OAS and the GIS scale for their situation: see the OAS calculator and the GIS calculator. The eligibility rules shared by all these benefits are in the OAS eligibility guide.
Official sources
Amounts are those Service Canada pays for October to December 2026, read on 2026-10-05; the reduction formulas are applied as the Old Age Security Act writes them, roundings included.
- Service Canada, Old Age Security payment amounts
OAS, GIS, Allowance and Allowance for the Survivor: maximums and income limits for October to December 2026 (page modified 29 September 2026).
- Old Age Security Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. O-9
Residence rules, partial pension, deferral, the 75+ increase, the GIS and top-up formulas, the Allowance (consolidation current to 21 September 2026).
- Service Canada, Guaranteed Income Supplement
Who qualifies, automatic enrolment and the payment calendar.