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CPP Payment Dates 2023

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As you’re probably aware, the CPP, or Canada Pension Plan, is a program intended to offer an income alternative for retired Canadians. It works a little like this: Canadians make contributions to the program throughout their working years, and then collect benefits from their date of retirement to the end of their life.

While it’s a pretty straightforward benefit to receive, there are still many questions that commonly come up surrounding the CPP. In this article, we’ll go over the important information that you need to know about CPP payments in 2022, including CPP payment dates, requirements, and other important changes that you should be aware of. Let’s dive in!

CPP payment dates for 2023

First things first, when should you expect CPP payments in 2023? Here are the dates to keep your eye out for, according to the Government of Canada:

  • January 27, 2023
  • February 24, 2023
  • March 29, 2023
  • April 26, 2023
  • May 29, 2022
  • June 28, 2023
  • July 27, 2023
  • August 29, 2023
  • September 27, 2023
  • October 27, 2023
  • November 28, 2023
  • December 20, 2023

How much CPP will you receive?

Here’s the estimated average retirement income you can expect from the CPP in 2023:

Year Average monthly amount Maximum monthly amount
2023 $759.82* 1,306.57*
2022 $717.15 $1236.25
2021 $619.68 $1203.75
2020 $689.17 $1175.83

Will you have to pay tax on CPP?

Yes. Because your CPP pension counts as taxable income. You will have to pay income tax on all of the CPP income that you earn on a quarterly basis.

If you prefer to have your tax contributions automatically deducted from your pension payments, you can request this from the federal government either online, through the mail, or in-person at a Service Canada office.

If you are receiving CPP payments but are not a resident of Canada, you will notice that the non-resident tax will be deducted from your CPP payments. This happens at a rate of 25% or less, depending on whether or not a tax treaty exists between Canada and the country of your residence. Canada has tax treaties with over 100 countries. If you’d like to request an adjustment in the amount that is removed automatically, you can also do that using the same forms mentioned above.

Maximizing CPP benefits

Many individuals wonder whether or not it’s possible to maximize the CPP benefits that they receive. The answer to this question is technically “yes”—but it’s not always easy.

In order to maximize the amount of CPP retirement pension that you receive, you will have to make the maximum CPP contribution for many of your working years. The maximum CPP contribution amount is set out by the federal government and is re-evaluated every year. It’s referred to as the Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings, or YMPE. For 2021, the YMPE is set at $61,600.

However, in order to make the most out of your CPP benefits, you would need to have been making the YMPE for several years in a row. You will also need to avoid any years of unemployment.

Other types of CPP benefits

Worried that you’re not getting enough out of your standard CPP benefits? Fortunately, there are some other types of CPP benefits that you can look into as well:

CPP post-retirement benefit

If you are under the age of 70 and continue to work while you’re receiving your CPP pension, you may be eligible for the CPP post-retirement benefit. Any contribution that you make during this time will be paid to you in your CPP pension once you fully retire.

When you’re 65, the government gives you the option of stopping your CPP post-retirement benefit contributions. Regardless of whether or not you stop working at age 70, your contributions to the post-retirement benefit programs stop.

CPP disability pension

This post-retirement benefit is another option for Canadians who are living with a disability. However, those eligible to receive it should take note that it’s not possible to receive both your CPP payments at the same time as your CPP disability pension. Instead, the federal government will automatically change your CPP retirement pension into a CPP disability pension when you turn 65.

CPP post-retirement disability benefit

If you are under 65 years of age and receiving the CPP retirement pension, you may be eligible for the CPP post-retirement disability benefit. In order to qualify, you will need to have a severe and long-term disability. You will also need to have made enough CPP contributions in order to qualify. This benefit is not applied automatically—it must be applied for.

Children’s benefit

If you are receiving CPP benefits and have a dependent child, you may be eligible for the children’s benefit. In order to qualify as a dependent, the child must be under the age of 18 (or 25 if they’re attending school).

CPP survivor’s pension

In the event that a CPP contributor passes away, their legal partner will receive their CPP contributions. In order to qualify, the recipient must either have been legally married to the deceased contributor or have been recognized as common-law. For these purposes, a common-law partner is a person of either the same or opposite sex who has lived together in a conjugal relationship for one year or more. This benefit may also be available to separated legal spouses in certain cases.

Death benefit

The death benefit differs from other CPP benefits in that it is a one-time payment. It is paid out to eligible individuals (or to the estate) when a CPP contributor passes away.

Applying for CPP benefits

Applying for CPP benefits is easy and consists of the following steps:

1. Determine your eligibility. In order to receive CPP benefits, you must be at least 60 years of age and have made at least one valid contribution. A contribution usually comes as a result of work that you performed in Canada, but can also come from benefiting from the work that a former spouse/common-law partner did.

2. Determine when the benefits should start. Depending on your situation, you may choose to either start receiving your pension on the date of your first eligibility, or once you turn 65.

3. Submit an application. In some cases, such as if you live outside of Canada, are making your application through a power-of-attorney, or have a denied CPP benefit in your history, you will have to send in a paper application. In other cases, you can apply online through your My Service Canada (MSC) account. If you don’t have an MSC account, you can register for one.

4. Keep an eye on your application status. If you applied for CPP benefits online, you can log into your MSC account to look for updates on your application. Otherwise, you’ll have to contact CPP directly.

At what age should you apply for CPP?

There are often many questions over when you should apply for CPP, and whether or not there are advantages to when you apply.

For most Canadians, it makes sense to start your pension at the age of 65. However, you do have the option of receiving your benefit as young as 60 or as late as 70. Note, though, that if you do decide to receive your pension at a younger age, the monthly amount that you’ll receive will be lower. Likewise, if you push off your payments until a later date, you will receive larger monthly payments.

There isn’t any advantage to pushing your payments back past the age of 70. Once you reach age 70, you will max out the amount of monthly payments that you are eligible to receive.

If you make your CPP application after turning 65, you may be able to receive some retroactive payments. These payments can go up to 11 months.

CPP changes in 2023

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has already set out the upcoming contribution limits for the year 2022. Earlier we mentioned that the maximum earning level was $64,900 annually—this has now been increased to $66,600.

The employee/employer contribution rates are also rising. They were previously 5.70%, and they will now be 5.95%. The self-employed contribution rate was previously 11.4%, but now it’s 11.9%.

CPP vs OAS payments

It is common to be confused about the difference between CPP and OAS. While CPP is a benefit pension plan, it’s not technically part of government assets. It is funded by the contributions of Canadians and their Canadian employers.

OAS, however, is government-funded. This means that it will not be deducted from paycheques. It stands for Old Age Security and is paid out to Canadians who meet certain citizenship and residency requirements. First payments can be received one month after turning 65.

The bottom line

The CPP is a useful benefit, and if you’re approaching retirement age it’s worth your while to research as much as possible about how this benefit can affect you. This includes knowing when the best time to start collecting this benefit will be, as well as how much you can expect from your pension payments. Happy retirement!

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