Old age security (OAS) and the Canada Pension Plan payments will be heading out to Canadians who qualify on Wednesday.

Some of those payments will also be higher than before because of adjustments made to keep up with inflation.

These payments are made monthly and vary depending on age, residency, citizenship, previous employment and tax-filing status among other factors.

Money should land in bank accounts on July 29 for those with direct deposit.

Those receiving cheques via mail will have to wait for them to arrive.

Here’s how much to expect.

Old age security

The next old age security payment is scheduled for July 29, 2026, and is administered by Service Canada and Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)

To qualify for OAS payments, recipients must be at least 65 years old, a Canadian citizen or legal resident at the time of approval, and they must have been a resident of Canada for at least 10 years since the age of 18.

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OAS qualifications are not based on employment or contributions. Income in the most recent tax year is one of the main factors that determine how much a recipient will get.

Income, in this context, can be generated from employment, but also from EI benefits, rental property revenue, RRSP withdrawals, taxable interest, dividends and capital gains, among other examples.

Employment and Social Development Canada says that OAS benefits have increased 1.2 per cent for the July to September quarter. This means OAS payments for Wednesday will likely be higher than those sent out in June.

Canadians between the ages of 65 and 74 could receive monthly payments up to $751.97, while those 75 years and older could see OAS payments of up to $827.17 per month.

Those maximum payouts are based on income declared in the 2025 tax year and may be less if OAS recipients have an income that exceeds the income thresholds. This is commonly known as OAS “clawbacks,” where the payment amount falls gradually for every dollar over the income thresholds.

This means the maximum monthly OAS payment will most likely be seen by Canadians who receive a net income in the 2025 tax year that falls below the income threshold, which is $93,454. The monthly payment will then be “clawed back” gradually for every dollar above that figure and up to the maximum income threshold.

Those maximum income thresholds are $152,062 for recipients aged 65 to 74 years old, while those aged 75 and over have a maximum of $157,923.

Advocacy group Generation Squeeze has been pushing the federal government to reform OAS.

The group says that higher-income Canadians who may not need the extra money as much as those with lower incomes are still receiving the payments automatically, and further reforms could help save the government billions in payments while sending more benefits to lower-income households.

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Canada Pension Plan

Canada Pension Plan payments are also going out to qualifying Canadians on Wednesday and are jointly administered by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and ESDC.

The amount one could see on their regular Canada Pension Plan payments varies based on average lifetime earnings, total contributions and the age they start claiming the benefits.

To qualify for payments, a recipient must be at least 60 years old and have made at least one valid contribution to the program through their employment or self-employment.

The age one decides to start taking CPP payments determines how large their monthly payments will be.

The CRA says 65 years of age is the standard benchmark age it uses to estimate Canada Pension Plan payments, but those who qualify can start early at the age of 60 or as late as 70. Starting earlier means the monthly payments will be smaller, while taking Canada Pension Plan from a later age will see larger monthly payments, but the maximum monthly amount is reached once a recipient turns 70.

Similarly to employment insurance, most workers will see a Canada Pension Plan deduction on their pay stubs to signify these mandatory contributions, in addition to income tax and other deductions.

Although the pay contributions can be made automatically, depending on the employer or payroll system, the benefit payments are not always sent automatically like with OAS, so Canadians may need to apply for the benefit program through Service Canada in order to see those funds.

For the 2026 calendar year, and based on the CRA’s benchmark age of 65 years old, the maximum benefit amount is $1,507.65 per month, while the average benefit could be $877 per month for new recipients.