Financially Comfortable Retirees Call for Old Age Security Payment Reductions
A coalition of affluent Canadian seniors is publicly advocating for significant reductions to their own Old Age Security (OAS) benefits, arguing that these payments are unnecessary for higher-income retirees and could be better allocated to address pressing national priorities.
Generation Squeeze Proposal Targets High-Income Households
The advocacy group Generation Squeeze has released a compelling video featuring eleven retirees who voluntarily request reduced OAS payments. Their proposal specifically targets households with retirement incomes exceeding $100,000 annually, a reform the organization estimates would liberate approximately $7 billion in federal spending each year.
"It makes no sense to me that I receive Old Age Security," stated retiree Harry Grossmith in the video presentation. "I'm not poor, I'm not struggling and yet I receive a bonus every month just for simply being a senior."
Fellow retiree Victor Grosstern echoed this sentiment, adding "We don't need and don't want OAS any longer" as part of the coordinated campaign to reform what they perceive as an inequitable system.
Mounting Fiscal Pressures and Program Costs
Paul Kershaw, founder and head of Generation Squeeze, emphasized the urgency of addressing ballooning OAS expenditures during a recent media briefing in Ottawa. He noted that policymakers "can ill afford to ignore ballooning OAS costs at a time of heightened geopolitical instability and economic uncertainty."
OAS currently represents Canada's most expensive federal program, consuming roughly one in every six dollars of federal spending. The program's costs reached $85.5 billion for the 2025-26 fiscal year and are projected to surpass $100 billion annually by the decade's end.
"In moments like this, national resiliency doesn't simply depend on our military and diplomacy, it also depends on whether our fiscal policy is strong, credible and future oriented," Kershaw explained to reporters gathered in the nation's capital.
Current System Parameters and Proposed Reforms
Under existing regulations, retired couples with combined incomes up to $182,000 may qualify for the full annual OAS benefit of approximately $18,000. Generation Squeeze's proposal would implement progressive reductions for households exceeding the $100,000 income threshold.
Kershaw highlighted that modernizing what he described as a "top-heavy OAS system" could provide a less painful alternative to the federal government's current approach of across-the-board spending reductions and workforce cuts. The November federal budget revealed a substantial $78-billion deficit, the largest outside pandemic periods in recent history.
"This one policy, because it is the biggest, can free us on a path to better stabilize our fiscal foundation and invest in mandate priorities in this government," Kershaw asserted during the briefing.
Additional Tax Credit Reforms and Intergenerational Equity
The advocacy group's comprehensive proposal extends beyond OAS adjustments to include phasing out two additional seniors' tax credits. These complementary reforms would generate an estimated $7 billion in additional annual savings, according to Generation Squeeze calculations.
Retiree Beth Jefferson, who participated in the video campaign, explained her motivation for joining the movement after hearing Kershaw discuss generational fairness on a podcast in 2021. "I retired relatively young and was looking for where I wanted to spend time and effort ... and my daughter alerted me to the podcast," Jefferson recalled.
Jefferson expressed particular concern about systemic inequities, noting that "clawbacks for child and disability benefits start earlier than those for OAS." She emphasized her belief in "compassion equally distributed across society" and criticized what she perceives as governmental unfairness in taxation approaches across different demographic groups.
"We all work hard in different ways, and we get different returns from it, and the government is really not fair in how it taxes those," Jefferson concluded, highlighting the intergenerational dimensions of the current policy debate.
