Your October OAS Amount Doesn’t Exist Yet — Here’s What Service Canada Has Actually Confirmed

If you are 65 or older and you have seen a headline promising a bigger Old Age Security cheque in October, stop for a second. Service Canada has not published that number yet.

The October to December 2026 OAS amounts do not exist on any government page today. The only official figures still in force are the July to September ones. Every site currently quoting you an October OAS amount is guessing.

Here is what is actually confirmed, when the money lands, and the one deduction that quietly takes some of it back.

What is actually confirmed right now

Maximum OAS, ages 65 to 74: $751.97 a month, July to September 2026.

Maximum OAS, age 75 and over: $827.17 a month, same quarter. The jump is the automatic 10% increase that applies once you turn 75.

Next payment date: September 25, 2026. After that, October 28, November 26 and December 22.

Income ceiling to receive OAS at all: annual net world income under $152,062 if you are 65 to 74, or under $157,923 if you are 75 or over.

Two things about that $751.97 figure. It is a maximum, not a typical payment — your amount depends on how many years you lived in Canada after age 18. And it is a quarterly figure that expires on September 30.

Why the number changes four times a year

This is the mechanism most articles skip, and it is the reason nobody can hand you an October figure yet.

OAS is indexed to the cost of living on a quarterly cycle. In the government’s own words, “Each January, April, July, and October pension amounts are increased to reflect any increases in the cost of living.” The new quarter’s amounts are calculated from recent Consumer Price Index data and published by Employment and Social Development Canada shortly before the quarter begins — not months ahead.

There is a floor built in: “Pension amounts do not decrease if the cost of living goes down.” So the October figure will be equal to or higher than $751.97. It will not be lower. That is the only honest thing anyone can tell you about it today.

The recent pattern is worth seeing, because it explains why a big October bump is unlikely. Ages 65 to 74 went from $740.09 in the last quarter of 2025, to $742.31, to $743.05, to $751.97 — about 1.6% across three quarters. Three of those four steps were under half a percent. The most recent one, 1.2%, was the outlier.

CPP works on a different clock entirely. It is adjusted once a year, in January, not quarterly. The 2026 adjustment was 2.0%, and the maximum new retirement pension at age 65 is $1,507.65 a month. If you receive both, only the OAS half moves in October.

GIS is where the real money is for low-income seniors

If your income is low, the Guaranteed Income Supplement is larger than OAS itself — and it is indexed on the same quarterly cycle.

Single, widowed or divorced: up to $1,123.17 a month, if your income is under $22,800.

Couple, spouse receives full OAS: up to $676.09 each, if your combined income is under $30,096.

Couple, spouse receives no OAS or Allowance: up to $1,123.17, if your combined income is under $54,624.

GIS is income-tested, so it shrinks as your income rises. The bars above are ceilings. Nobody can tell you your number without knowing your income — and that is the honest answer, not a dodge.

The critical part: GIS is not automatic year to year. It is recalculated from your tax return. File late and your July payment can stop cold. If you have not filed, that is the single most valuable thing you can fix this month.

The clawback that is already running

The OAS recovery tax is deducted monthly, and most people only notice it when a payment shrinks for no obvious reason.

The threshold that matters now: $93,454 of 2025 net income. If you were above it, the recovery is being taken out of your OAS from July 2026 through June 2027 — including your September and October payments.

The rate: 15 cents back for every dollar above the threshold. It reaches 100% at $152,062 for ages 65 to 74, and $157,923 for 75 and over. Above those lines, OAS stops entirely.

Next year is already set: the threshold for 2026 income is $95,323, and it governs the July 2027 to June 2028 period. If you are near the line, you have the rest of this year to plan around it.

Other payments landing around the same time

Three other federal payments arrive in the same stretch, and confusing them is how people convince themselves a payment is missing.

The Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit — the program that replaced the GST/HST credit — pays on October 5. The Advanced Canada Workers Benefit pays October 9. The Canada Child Benefit pays September 18 and October 20. None of these are OAS, and none of them will show up on the same date.

What to do this week

Check your last deposit against $751.97. If you are getting noticeably less and you are not near the clawback threshold, the usual cause is years of residence in Canada, not an error. Your My Service Canada Account shows the calculation.

File your return if you have not. GIS, the Allowance and the Groceries and Essentials Benefit are all rebuilt from your tax return each year. A missing return quietly stops payments that you are otherwise entitled to.

Wait for the official October figure. It will appear on the Government of Canada’s OAS payment amounts page at the end of September. Anything circulating before then is a forecast wearing a number.

Do not pay anyone to claim a benefit for you. OAS, GIS and the Allowance are free to apply for, and so is every settlement claim we cover, including the CRA data breach settlement. Anyone charging a fee to “unlock” or “process” a federal benefit is running a scam.

Expect phishing around any benefit change. Every time a payment amount is in the news, texts and emails follow claiming your deposit failed and asking you to confirm banking details. The CRA and Service Canada do not ask for your banking information by text. Go to your My Service Canada Account or My CRA Account directly rather than through a link — the same rule that applies when settlement deadlines cluster in one month and the fake claim sites multiply.

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• The GST/HST Credit Is Gone — What Replaced It, and What Lands October 5
• Three Settlement Deadlines Close in October — and One “Open” Claim Shut in March
• Capital One’s $35M Canadian Settlement: The Date That Matters Is September 11
• Two CIBC Mutual Fund Settlements Are Open at Once

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Figures are current as of September 5, 2026 and reflect the July to September 2026 quarter. This article is general information, not legal or financial advice. Benefit amounts, thresholds and payment dates can change. Confirm your own amounts in My Service Canada Account or CRA My Account, or on the Government of Canada benefit pages, before acting on anything here.