Many low-income seniors are standing on the edge of a financial precipice. As family physicians and health promoters at St. Michael’s Family Health Team, we do everything we can to support our patients through these challenges. But for every person we help, thousands of others fall through the cracks with no one to catch them.
Seniors in Canada often rely on government pensions, including Old Age Security (OAS), and for those who have worked, Canada Pension Plan-Retirement (CPP-R). Low-income seniors can also receive the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), an extra benefit under OAS meant to ensure their income does not fall below a certain minimum. In Ontario, low-income seniors should receive at least $1,943 per month from all income sources combined.
While this system can be more generous than other government income programs, it has serious flaws. The primary issue lies with GIS, which can provide seniors with up to $1,110 per month. However, because of the flawed way this benefit is calculated, many seniors are left facing severe financial hardship.
Take our patient, “Bob,” who was living on disability benefits. In March 2024, at age 63, he received a one-time retroactive payment of $18,000 from a former employer. By the time he turned 65 in September 2025, that money was gone. Yet, when he applied for OAS, the system used that lump sum he received 18 months earlier to calculate his current financial need. Bob was denied GIS.
When he transitioned to senior benefits in October 2025, his monthly income plummeted to $950 – nowhere near enough to cover his rent and basic needs. Bob was expected to survive on this amount until July 2026, when the system would finally recognize his actual income and grant him the GIS he desperately needed.
The GIS payment amounts are calculated on a sliding scale based on a senior’s income (lower income means more GIS). But in practice, eligibility is determined by looking at their income from a previous tax return – sometimes from up to two years ago. For example, income reported in 2024 determines a person’s monthly GIS payments from July 2025 to June 2026.
Because of the use of often outdated income information, seniors who had previous income (from as long as more than two years ago), such as work income that they no longer have, are presently receiving less than the amount they are currently entitled to. We see this problem occurring frequently.
Once we intervened on Bob’ s behalf, we were able to get the problem resolved; he was granted GIS promptly, and his monthly pension more than doubled to around $2,000.
However, many seniors in similar circumstances lack access to support in navigating the complex pension system.
Another common problem occurs when seniors do not file their taxes or file them late, in which case their GIS may completely stop, often without much warning.
A person can get these issues fixed, but it can be complicated, often involving repeated calls to Service Canada, filling out forms and then waiting up to six months or more for the forms to be processed. There is little information available to warn people of these potential problems, nor how to resolve them. Many seniors are not even aware that they are receiving less income than they should.
While changes to the system to simplify access to GIS would be ideal, for now we are calling on the Government of Canada to implement the following:
- Increase visibility of GIS issues: There should be detailed information available to seniors about GIS entitlements and discrepancies, and how to resolve them.
- Enhance support for navigating the system by recruiting dedicated “system navigator” staff/workers in Service Canada offices and agencies that serve low-income seniors. These workers can assist them with accessing GIS and OAS benefits, as well as navigating the various problems mentioned.
- Automated assessments should be done to help seniors who struggle to fill in forms from falling through the cracks.
- Research and tracking: Currently, there is very little data on the number of seniors who are not receiving their full GIS allotment. The government must track and report on these issues to ensure they improve over time
What we have now is a system that can deny or reduce support based on income seniors no longer have. What we need as a first step in improving the lives of our low-income seniors is ensuring they receive their GIS without having to navigate bureaucratic roadblocks.
