Dear reader,
A Canadian retirement is run largely by post. The pension itself arrives by deposit, but almost everything that decides its size, its tax and its renewal comes as a letter, a slip or a statement: the enrolment letter around the 64th birthday, two tax slips each February, a Guaranteed Income Supplement letter each July, and a contribution record that goes back to a first job.
Most retirement paperwork arrives in plain envelopes, looks routine and goes into a drawer. A handful of those letters are worth more than that: they are the only record of how your pension was worked out.
Schedule A · What arrives, and when
Six documentsThe calendar of a retirement mailbox, as the official sources describe it. Dates are the usual pattern, not a promise of delivery; the keeping times marked with an asterisk are our suggestion rather than a rule.
| Document | Usually arrives | Keep it | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| T4A(P), the CPP tax slip | By the end of February; in My Service Canada Account from 1 February1 | Six years after the return it supports2 | Read → |
| T4A(OAS), the OAS tax slip | By the end of February1 | Six years after the return it supports2 | Read → |
| NR4, if you live abroad | Can come as late as the end of March1 | Six years after the return it supports2 | Read → |
| OAS enrolment letter | Around the 64th birthday3 | For as long as the pension is paid* | Read → |
| GIS renewal letter | July, after the return filed by April 304 | Until the next July letter, with that year’s return* | Read → |
| CPP Statement of Contributions | When you ask: online, or mailed on request5 | The latest copy, plus the T4 slips behind it* | Read → |
P.S. If a message arrives asking you to “confirm” your Social Insurance Number or follow a link to release a benefit, read the letter on look-alike Service Canada messages before you do anything else.
Enclosures
11 enclosed, filed by folder
Encl. 1What your CPP Statement of Contributions is really telling you
Every year since you turned 18, with a letter code beside some of them. How to read the codes, and why an error is easier to fix while it is young.
Encl. 2How CPP pension sharing between spouses actually works
Two pensions go in, two come out, and the household total does not change. What does change is who pays tax on what.
Encl. 3Why some people get OAS automatically and others get a letter asking them to apply
Around the 64th birthday, one of two letters arrives. Which one you get depends on what Service Canada already knows about you.
Encl. 4What waiting to start OAS adds for each month you delay
Each month past 65 adds 0.6%, up to 36% at 70. The arithmetic is simple; the catch is that the GIS is not paid while you wait.
Encl. 5The OAS increase at 75 that many people only notice on a statement
Since July 2022 the pension rises by 10% the month after the 75th birthday. Nobody has to apply, which is exactly why it goes unnoticed.
Encl. 6Why the GIS depends on filing a tax return every year
The Guaranteed Income Supplement is renewed from your return, not from a form. Miss April 30 and the July letter can bring a pause instead of a renewal.
Encl. 7How to read a T4A(P) slip without guessing
Box 20 is the number that goes on the return, but it is rarely twelve times your monthly payment. Why, and which other boxes are worth checking.
Encl. 8The scam letters and texts that imitate Service Canada
A suspended SIN, a refund waiting behind a link, a benefit that needs "confirming". The patterns repeat, and so do the ways to check them.
Encl. 9What changes for CPP and OAS when you move abroad
CPP follows you almost anywhere. OAS has a 20-year rule, GIS stops after six months, and the tax slip changes from a T4A to an NR4.
Encl. 10What happens to CPP credits after a separation or divorce
The years you lived together are pooled and halved, permanently. When it happens, the deadlines that apply to common-law couples, and the provinces where an agreement can stop it.
Encl. 11The CPP death benefit is a single payment, and smaller than many expect
For most retirees it is $2,500, paid once, and taxable. Who applies, in what order, and how it differs from the survivor's pension.
Yes, send me The Bopva Letter every Tuesday.
- 1Canada Revenue Agency — Tax slips: get a copy of your slips — most slips by the end of February, NR4 slips possibly by the end of March.
- 2Canada Revenue Agency — Keeping records — records kept for six years from the end of the tax year they relate to.
- 3Government of Canada — Apply for the Old Age Security pension — enrolment letter around the 64th birthday.
- 4Government of Canada — GIS: receiving your benefit — file by April 30; a letter in July.
- 5Government of Canada — Statement of contributions to the CPP — view online or request a mailed copy.