CPP retirement pension: How much you could receive
How much you could receive
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How we calculate your CPP payment
The amount of your CPP retirement pension depends on different factors, such as:
- the age you decide to start your pension
- how much and for how long you contributed to the CPP
- your average earnings throughout your working life
For 2024, the maximum monthly amount you could receive if you start your pension at age 65 is $1,364.60. The average monthly amount paid for a new retirement pension (at age 65) in January 2024 was $831.92. Your situation will determine how much you’ll receive up to the maximum.
You can get an estimate of your monthly CPP retirement pension payments by signing in to your My Service Canada Account.
If you don’t have an account, you can register for one. We will send you a personal access code to complete your registration.
Canadian Retirement Income Calculator
The Canadian Retirement Income Calculator can also help you better understand your future financial security.
Canadian Retirement Income Calculator
Situations that can affect your pension amount
Other factors can also affect your pension amount. We’ll automatically consider them when we calculate your CPP retirement pension amount if you’ve provided all the required information in your application.
Working while receiving the CPP Retirement Pension
You’ll qualify for a CPP post-retirement benefit if you:
- work while receiving your CPP retirement pension while under age 70, and
- decide to keep making contributions
Each year you contribute to the CPP will result in an additional post-retirement benefit and increase your retirement income. We will automatically pay you this benefit the following year. You’ll receive it for the rest of your life.
You can choose to stop your post-retirement contributions when you reach age 65. Your contributions will stop when you reach age 70, even if you’re still working. We will contact you if we need more information for you to qualify.
Contributions after age 65
You may have worked or be working after age 65 and not yet receiving your CPP retirement pension. In this case, you may be able to use those earnings to replace any periods of low earnings before age 65. We would only include these earnings if it increases your pension amount.
Your contributions will stop when you reach age 70, even if you’re still working.
Periods of low or no earnings
You might have years of low or no earnings. When we calculate the base component of your CPP retirement pension, we will “drop out” or not include up to 8 years of your lowest earnings from your earnings history. This will increase the amount of your pension.
We determine the enhanced component of the retirement pension on your contributions to the CPP enhancement. It’s calculated using your best 40 years of earnings. This will only affect you if you work and make CPP contributions after January 1, 2019.
Periods of raising children
You may have taken time off from work or worked less to look after young children. If you had low or no earnings during that time, the child-rearing provisions may increase the amount of your CPP retirement pension. They may also help you qualify for other CPP benefits.
Periods of disability
You may have received a CPP disability pension. In this case, we will “drop out” or not include those months when we calculate the base component of your CPP benefit. This will increase your CPP retirement pension and may help you qualify for other benefits.
When we calculate the enhanced component of your CPP pension, we will “drop in” credits for the time you were disabled. This is based on your earnings from the start of the enhancement in January 2019 or after. These credits are equal to 70% of your average earnings covered under the CPP enhancement in the 6 years before you became disabled.
The disability drop-in provision supports you by protecting the value of your benefits from the months you had a lower income when you received the CPP disability pension.
This will increase your retirement pension as well as your spouse or common-law partner’s survivor’s pension. We will do this based on information we already have. You do not need to apply.
Pension sharing
You can share your pension with your spouse/common-law partner. Pension sharing can lower your taxes in retirement by decreasing your taxable income.
Divorce or separation
Credit splitting allows you to split your CPP contributions equally between you and your spouse/common-law partner if you separate or divorce.
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