Question Period Note: OLD AGE SECURITY PROCESSING

How has the Government of Canada managed the processing of Old Age Security applications?

• Service Canada is committed to supporting seniors through Old Age Security benefits, including the Guaranteed Income Supplement.

• The Old Age Security program has recently been migrated onto a new platform, replacing legacy processing systems. This migration is the largest IT enabled transformation initiative undertaken by the Government of Canada.

• Ongoing monitoring of payments and technical mitigations will continue throughout the transition period.

• Service Canada prioritizes putting clients into pay while it continues to work on improving service levels

The Old Age Security (OAS) program is one of the largest programs of the Government of Canada. In 2023-24, the program paid $76.1B in benefits to 7.3M seniors. For a significant number of these seniors, OAS benefits (including 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.

OAS Processing Timelines

OAS workload refers to the processing of OAS applications, revisions to benefits and appeals, as well as the supporting elements that provide oversight, ensure timeliness, and quality. An aging population and rising life expectancy has increased the OAS client base, and therefore the workload. In addition, processing applications has become more complex due to changing demographics (more seniors have lived or worked abroad).

In 2024-25, Service Canada paid 87.5% of OAS benefits within the first month of entitlement (service standard target is 90%).

OAS Inventory Stabilization

The stabilization of OAS inventories is key to ensuring that seniors receive the OAS benefits that they are entitled to in a timely manner consistent with the Department’s service standards.

On March 16, 2025, Service Canada migrated OAS onto a new processing platform. Inventories are expected to grow for a limited period prior to stabilizing as we adopt this new system. Service Canada planned for a 9-month transition period and is actively taking a variety of actions to ensure continuity of service delivery results for Canadians. Such activities include additional training and workload management across the processing network.

On February 28, 2025, prior to migration onto the new processing platform, the OAS inventory was 1,021,331.

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