The frozen UK State Pension in Canada, and how it fits with CPP and OAS

Canada is one of the big countries where your UK State Pension is paid but never goes up, so the figure on your first payment is the figure you keep.

The short version

• Your State Pension only rises each year if you live in the EEA, Switzerland, Gibraltar or a country with a social security agreement that includes increases. Canada is specifically excluded [1].
• The full new State Pension is £230.25 a week in 2025/26 and £241.30 a week in 2026/27 [2][3].
• The UK–Canada social security arrangements don't help you qualify for Canadian benefits, so your UK years don't count towards Old Age Security (OAS) [4].
• OAS needs at least 10 years living in Canada after age 18 for a partial pension, and 40 for the full one, up to CAD 762.50 (about £404) a month for 65 to 74-year-olds [5][6].
• The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) depends on your Canadian earnings. The 2026 maximum at 65 is CAD 1,507.65 (about £800) a month [7].

Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = CAD 1.89).

Why the pension is frozen in Canada

GOV.UK spells it out. The yearly increase is paid only in the EEA, Gibraltar, Switzerland and countries with a social security agreement with the UK, "but you cannot get increases in Canada or New Zealand" [1].

That catches people out, because the UK does have arrangements with Canada. They just don't include uprating. Canada's own summary explains that there are two pieces [4]:

• The Consolidated Arrangements (1995) let people living in the UK use some periods of residence in Canada as if they were UK National Insurance contributions, to help them qualify for UK benefits.
• The Convention on Social Security (1998) deals only with contributions for people posted to work temporarily in the other country. Canada says it is a limited agreement that can't help people qualify for benefits from either country.

So moving to Toronto freezes your State Pension at the rate you get when you leave, or at the rate when you first claim if you're already in Canada [1]. If you come back to live in the UK, it goes up to the current rate [1].

What freezing costs you

The figures make it plain. Here are the full rates [2][3]:

Say you reached State Pension age and moved to Toronto during 2025/26 on the full new State Pension. You stay on £230.25 a week. Your sister in Shrewsbury gets £241.30 a week in 2026/27. That's £11.05 a week, or about £575 a year, after a single April. Every later uprating widens the gap, and over a 20-year retirement it adds up to a serious sum.

This is a difference in pounds. The money arrives in Canadian dollars, so exchange rates move what you actually get too, in either direction.

Things that don't unfreeze it

• A UK bank account. It's where you live that matters, not where the money is paid.
• Becoming a Canadian citizen. Citizenship doesn't change the rule.
• Waiting for a change in the law. Campaigners have pushed for years. Until Parliament changes it, plan as if your pension stays at its starting level.

Old Age Security: Canada's residence-based pension

OAS is closest to a basic state pension, and it's based on how long you've lived in Canada, not on contributions.

Who qualifies [5]:

• You must be 65 or over.
• If you live in Canada, you must be a citizen or legal resident and have lived in Canada for at least 10 years since age 18.
• To get it paid abroad, for example if you retire back to the UK, you need at least 20 years in Canada after 18.

You get a partial pension for 10 to 40 years of residence after 18, and the full pension for 40 years [6]. Because the UK–Canada arrangements don't count your UK years for Canadian benefits [4], someone who arrives at 50 and stays will build up far less than a full OAS.

Maximum monthly OAS, October to December 2026 [6]:

OAS rises with Canadian inflation and is reviewed four times a year. For October to December 2026 it went up by 1.4%, and by 3.0% over the year [6]. Ironically, it's the Canadian pension that keeps pace with prices, not the British one.

The clawback

OAS is taxable, and if your net income is above a threshold it's reduced by a recovery tax. The threshold was CAD 93,454 (about £49,560) for 2025 [6]. Net income counts private and public pensions [5], so your UK State Pension and any UK workplace pensions count towards it.

The Guaranteed Income Supplement

If your income is low, the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) tops up OAS for people living in Canada. For a single person, it's up to CAD 1,138.90 (about £604) a month where annual income is under CAD 23,112 [6]. GIS is recalculated each July from the previous year's income [6].

The Canada Pension Plan: earnings-based

The CPP works more like the old UK earnings-related pensions. You pay into it through work in Canada, and what you get depends on how much you earned and for how long.

Source: Government of Canada [7].

Most Brits who arrive mid-career won't get anywhere near the maximum. If you apply after 65, back payments are limited to 12 months, so don't forget to claim [7].

How the two systems work together

Put simply, the UK and Canadian pensions sit side by side, and neither helps you qualify for the other:

1. Your UK State Pension is based on your UK National Insurance record. It's paid in Canada but frozen.
2. OAS is based on your years living in Canada after 18.
3. CPP is based on your Canadian earnings and contributions.
4. Your UK income counts when Canada works out the OAS clawback and GIS.

Should you keep paying UK National Insurance?

Filling gaps can still make sense, even with a frozen pension, because each extra year adds to the starting amount you keep for life. But the rules tightened on 6 April 2026. Voluntary Class 2 for time abroad has gone for most people, and new applicants for Class 3 from abroad need 10 continuous years living in the UK or 10 qualifying years [8]. Class 3 costs £18.40 a week in 2026/27 [9]. Our guide to voluntary National Insurance from abroad explains who still qualifies.

Claiming

Claim your UK State Pension from Canada through the DWP's International Pension Centre in Newcastle, which deals with the UK side of the UK–Canada arrangements [4]. Check your forecast on GOV.UK well before your State Pension age. Claim OAS and CPP from Service Canada. The FCDO's Living in Canada guide points you to Employment and Social Development Canada for both [10].

Tax

The UK State Pension is paid without tax taken off. As a Canadian resident, you'll normally report your worldwide income, including UK pensions, to the Canada Revenue Agency. The UK and Canada have a double taxation agreement so you don't pay tax twice on the same income [10]. Our Canadian taxes for Brits guide explains more, and a tax adviser who knows both countries can check your case.

If you also have UK workplace or personal pensions, never move them on a cold call or a "free pension review". Transfers need regulated financial advice, and our guide to RRSPs, TFSAs and your UK pensions covers the warnings.

Our community group for Brits in Canada has plenty of retirees who've sorted all this out, and you can join here.

Sources

1. GOV.UK: State Pension if you retire abroad – how your pension is affected
2. GOV.UK (DWP): Benefit and pension rates 2026 to 2027 (updated 16 February 2026)
3. GOV.UK: The new State Pension – what you'll get
4. Government of Canada: United Kingdom – pensions and benefits (social security agreement)
5. Government of Canada: Old Age Security – do you qualify (modified 1 October 2026)
6. Government of Canada: Old Age Security payment amounts
7. Government of Canada: Canada Pension Plan monthly amounts (modified 29 September 2026)
8. GOV.UK (HMRC policy paper): Voluntary National Insurance contributions abroad from 6 April 2026
9. GOV.UK: Voluntary National Insurance – rates
10. GOV.UK (FCDO): Living in Canada (updated 11 December 2025)

Keep reading

• Canadian taxes for Brits: the UK link and your State Pension
• RRSPs, TFSAs and your UK pensions
• The UK State Pension abroad: frozen or uprated?
• UK workplace and private pensions abroad (and the transfer warnings)