Question Period Note: OLD AGE SECURITY PROCESSING OF APPLICATIONS FOR APPLICANT IN DIRE NEED

Pensions client in dire need of expedited pension application

Service Canada is committed to supporting seniors through Old Age Security benefits.

Due to privacy considerations, we cannot comment on individual cases.

When we become aware that an individual is in dire need, we act immediately and take necessary actions to act as quickly as possible.

If there is information missing to process a pension application, Service Canada communicates with the client to obtain the required information that will provide the benefits to the client.

Service Canada is focused on maintaining timely access to benefits and services for all clients while improvements continue to be made.

A client is in a dire need situation if a delay in benefit payments will cause them to suffer severe financial hardship. Severe financial hardship is defined as a risk of being unable to satisfy basic needs, such as food, medical services or housing.

Individuals who submit a dire need notification to the department by email, telephone or mail will have their file immediately reviewed by a Service Canada agent. The agent will then contact the individual within 24 hours to advise of the outcome of their file review and when they can expect to receive their OAS payment, if all required information has been submitted.

Délais de traitement de la SV / OAS

Le programme de la Sécurité de la vieillesse (SV) est l’un des plus importants programmes du gouvernement du Canada. En 2021-2022, le programme a versé 60,8 milliards de dollars en prestations à 6,9 millions d’aînés. Pour un grand nombre de ces aînés, les prestations de la SV (en particulier le Supplément de revenu garanti et d’autres prestations fondées sur le revenu) représentent leur seule source de revenus. Le fait de ne pas recevoir ces prestations de base à temps peut entraîner de graves difficultés financières.

Pour la période d’avril a décembre 2023, Service Canada a versé 86.7% des prestations de la SV au cours du premier mois d’admissibilité (la norme de service est de 90 %). Pour la période de avril 2022 a mars 2023, Service Canada a versé 87,6 % des prestations de la SV au cours du premier mois d’admissibilité

The Old Age Security (OAS) program is one of the largest programs of the Government of Canada. In 2021-22, the program paid $60.8B in benefits to 6.9M seniors. For a significant number of these seniors, OAS benefits (in particular, the Guaranteed Income Supplement and other income tested benefits) represent their only source of income. Not receiving these core benefits on time can cause serious financial hardship.

For the period of April to December 2023, Service Canada paid 86.7% of OAS benefits within first month of entitlement (with a service standard of 90%). For the period of April 2022 to March 2023, Service Canada paid 87.6% of benefits within first month of entitlement.

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