Old Age Security Regulations (C.R.C., c. 1246)

Assignment of Social Insurance Numbers to Applicants, Beneficiaries, Spouses or Common-law Partners

15 Where a Social Insurance Number has not been assigned to an applicant or beneficiary or to the spouse or common-law partner of an applicant or beneficiary, the Minister may assign or cause to be assigned a Social Insurance Number to the applicant or beneficiary or to the spouse or common-law partner of the applicant or beneficiary.

Relationship Evidence

• 16 (1) If the Minister has not received information in support of an application for a benefit that is necessary to determine the relationship between the applicant and their spouse or common-law partner, the Minister may require that one of the following documents be submitted:

  • (a) in the case of spouses, their certificate of marriage, a copy of that certificate or a copy of their act of marriage; or

  • (b) in the case of common-law partners, a statutory declaration setting out information as to their relationship or, if applicable, any other evidence of the relationship.

• (2) If there are reasonable grounds to doubt the validity of the copy of a certificate or act of marriage referred to in paragraph (1)(a), the Minister may require that the original certificate of marriage or, if applicable, a copy of the act of marriage issued by the competent authority be submitted.

• (3) If there are reasonable grounds to believe that none of the documents referred to in paragraph (1)(a) are available, the Minister may determine the relationship between the applicant and their spouse on the basis of a statutory declaration setting out information as to their marriage or, if applicable, any other evidence of the marriage.

17 If the Minister does not have sufficient evidence or information to determine if a person, for whom the requirement for an application for a supplement has been waived under subsection 11(3.1) of the Act, has a spouse or common-law partner, the Minister may use the tax return filed with the Minister of National Revenue by that person for the most recent calendar year for which the filing due date has passed to make that determination.

Evidence of Age and Identity

• 18 (1) Subject to subsections (2) to (4) and section 19, the Minister must determine an applicant’s age and identity for the purposes of the Act on the basis of

  • (a) a birth certificate, a copy of one or a copy of an act of birth; or

  • (b) any information made available to the Minister by the Canada Employment Insurance Commission under subsection 28.2(5) of the Department of Employment and Social Development Act.

• (2) If there are reasonable grounds to doubt the validity of the copy of a birth certificate or act of birth referred to in paragraph (1)(a), the Minister may require that the original birth certificate or, if applicable, a copy of the act of birth issued by the competent authority be submitted.

• (3) If there are reasonable grounds to believe that none of the documents referred to in paragraph (1)(a) are available, the Minister may determine the applicant’s age and identity on the basis of any other information or evidence respecting the applicant’s age and identity.

• (4) If the Minister is unable to determine the applicant’s age and identity under any of subsections (1) to (3), the Minister may, if possible, determine them on the basis of any information obtained from Statistics Canada under section 6 of the Act.

18.1 For the purposes of section 6 of the Act, the conditions are the following:

• (a) the request to Statistics Canada must

  • (i) be made in a form prescribed by the Chief Statistician of Canada,

  • (ii) bear the signed consent of the person who is the subject of the request, and

  • (iii) include the specific information that is necessary for searching the census records; and

• (b) any information supplied by Statistics Canada must be kept confidential and must not be used for a purpose other than determining the applicant’s age as required under the Act or the Canada Pension Plan, as the case may be.

19 Where the age of an applicant has been determined under the Canada Pension Plan, that determination may be accepted by the Minister for the purposes of the Act.

19.1 [Repealed, SOR/96-521, s. 8]

Residence

• 20 (1) To enable the Minister to determine a person’s eligibility in respect of residence in Canada, the person or someone acting on the person’s behalf shall provide a statement giving full particulars of all periods of residence in Canada and of all absences from Canada that are relevant to that eligibility.

• (2) Unless the Minister requires otherwise under the Act, a person is not required to provide a statement under subsection (1) in the circumstances set out in subsection 5(2) or (5), 11(3) or (4), 19(4.1) or 21(5) or (5.1) of the Act.

• 21 (1) For the purposes of the Act and these Regulations,

  • (a) a person resides in Canada if he makes his home and ordinarily lives in any part of Canada; and

  • (b) a person is present in Canada when he is physically present in any part of Canada.

• (2) A person who lives on a ship outside the territorial waters of Canada shall, while so living, be deemed not to be living in any part of Canada.

• (2.1) Notwithstanding subsection (1), a person who is not a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada does not reside in Canada for the purposes of the Act and these Regulations during any period in which he is present in Canada

  • (a) for the purpose of carrying out his duties as a properly accredited diplomat, consular officer, representative or official of

    • (i) a country other than Canada,

    • (ii) the United Nations or any of its agencies, or

    • (iii) any intergovernmental organization in which Canada participates;

  • (b) as a member of a military force present in Canada for training or for any other purpose in connection with the defence or security interests of Canada or under any treaty or agreement between Canada and another country;

  • (c) as the spouse, common-law partner or dependant of a person referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) or the dependant of that person’s spouse or common-law partner; or

  • (d) as a member of the staff of or as a person otherwise accompanying a person referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c).

• (3) For the purposes of the Act and these Regulations, where a person becomes the spouse or common-law partner of a person residing in Canada while the person residing in Canada is absent from Canada in any of the circumstances specified in paragraph (5)(a) or (b), the period outside Canada of the spouse after their marriage or of the common-law partner after becoming such a partner is considered a period of residence and presence in Canada, if

  • (a) the spouse or common-law partner returns to Canada either before or within six months after the return of the person residing in Canada or within six months after that person’s death if that person dies while so absent from Canada; or

  • (b) the spouse or common-law partner attains, during that period outside Canada, an age at which the spouse or common-law partner is eligible to be paid a pension under the Act.

• (4) Any interval of absence from Canada of a person resident in Canada that is

  • (a) of a temporary nature and does not exceed one year,

  • (b) for the purpose of attending a school or university, or

  • (c) specified in subsection (5)

  shall be deemed not to have interrupted that person’s residence or presence in Canada.

• (5) The absences from Canada referred to in paragraph (4)(c) of a person residing in Canada are absences under the following circumstances:

  • (a) while that person was employed out of Canada

    • (i) by the United Nations or one of its specialized agencies,

    • (ii) by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,

    • (iii) by the Commonwealth Secretariat,

    • (iv) by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development,

    • (v) by l’Agence de coopération culturelle et technique, or

    • (vi) by a Canadian firm or corporation as a representative or member thereof,

    if during his employment out of Canada he

    • (vii) had in Canada a permanent place of abode to which he intended to return, or

    • (viii) maintained in Canada a self-contained domestic establishment,

    and he returned to Canada within six months after the end of his employment out of Canada or he attained, while employed out of Canada, an age at which he was eligible to be paid a pension under the Act;

  • (b) while that person was employed or engaged out of Canada

    • (i) by the Government of Canada or of the government or a municipal corporation of any province,

    • (ii) in the performance of services in another country under a development or assistance program that is sponsored or operated in that country by the Government of Canada or of a province or by a non-profit Canadian agency,

    • (iii) as a member of the Canadian Forces, pursuant to and in connection with the requirements of his duties,

    • (iv) in work for Canada connected with the prosecution of any war,

    • (v) as a member of the armed forces of any ally of Canada during any war,

    • (vi) as a missionary with any religious group or organization,

    • (vii) as a worker in lumbering, harvesting, fishing or other seasonal employment,

    • (viii) as a transport worker on trains, aircraft, ships or buses running between Canada and points outside Canada or other similar employment, or

    • (ix) as an employee, a member or an officer of an international charitable organization,

    if he returned to Canada within six months of the end of his employment or engagement out of Canada or he attained, while employed or engaged out of Canada, an age at which he was eligible to be paid a pension under the Act;

  • (c) while that person was accompanying their spouse or common-law partner who was absent from Canada in any of the circumstances specified in paragraph (a) or (b) or for the purpose of attending school or university, if that person

    • (i) returned to Canada either before or within six months after the return of their spouse or common-law partner or within six months after the death of their spouse or common-law partner, if their spouse or common-law partner died while so absent from Canada, or

    • (ii) while so absent from Canada, attained an age at which he was eligible to be paid a pension under the Act;

  • (d) while that person was awaiting transportation to Canada during or immediately after World War II, if he

    • (i) was unable to return to Canada owing to the dislocation of transportation facilities, and

    • (ii) returned to Canada when transportation became available;

  • (e) while that person was accompanying his spouse who was resident in Canada and awaiting transportation to Canada during or immediately after World War II, if that person

    • (i) was unable to return to Canada owing to the dislocation of transportation facilities, and

    • (ii) returned to Canada when transportation became available; or

  • (f) while that person was a dependent person and was accompanying and residing outside Canada with the person on whom he was dependent, if the person on whom he was dependent resided in Canada and was absent from Canada in any of the circumstances specified in paragraph (a) or (b) and if the dependent person

    • (i) returned to Canada before or within six months after the return of the person on whom he was dependent or within six months after that person’s death, if that person died while so absent from Canada, or

    • (ii) while so absent from Canada, attained an age at which he was eligible to be paid a pension under the Act.

• (5.1) Where, by virtue of an agreement entered into under subsection 40(1) of the Act, a person is subject to the Act while residing in a country other than Canada, the absence from Canada of that person, the person’s spouse or common-law partner and the dependants of the person or of the person’s spouse or common-law partner, if the spouse, common-law partner or dependants, as the case may be, reside with the person in that country, shall, for the purposes of an allowance, not be considered to have interrupted the residence or presence in Canada of the person, spouse, common-law partner or dependants.

• (5.2) Where a person who is resident in Canada is subject to the legislation of a country other than Canada by virtue of an agreement entered into under subsection 40(1) of the Act, and the person’s spouse or common-law partner or the dependant of the person or of the person’s spouse or common-law partner engages in pensionable employment as defined in the Canada Pension Plan or in the plan of a province providing a comprehensive pension plan, any period in such pensionable employment shall, for the purposes of the Act and these Regulations, be considered to be a period of residence in Canada.

• (5.3) Where, by virtue of an agreement entered into under subsection 40(1) of the Act, a person is subject to the legislation of a country other than Canada, that person shall, for the purposes of the Act and these Regulations, be deemed not to be resident in Canada.

• (6) For the purposes of paragraph (5)(f), dependent person means, with respect to a person who was absent from Canada in any of the circumstances specified in paragraph (5)(a) or (b), that person’s father, mother, brother, sister, child or foster child or the father, mother, child or foster child of the person’s spouse or common-law partner.

• (7) Dependant means

  • (a) with respect to a person who does not reside in Canada within the meaning of subsection (2.1),

  • (b) with respect to a person who is deemed to be resident in Canada within the meaning of subsection (5.1), or

  • (c) with respect to a person referred to in subsection (5.2) who, while resident in Canada is subject to the legislation of a country other than Canada,

  that person’s father, mother, brother, sister, child or foster child or the father, mother, child or foster child of the person’s spouse or common-law partner.

• (8) For the purposes of section 4.1 of the Act as it relates to the requirement of subparagraph 3(1)(c)(iii) of the Act, the prescribed information is,

  • (a) in the case of a person who is in receipt of or has been approved for a retirement, disability or survivor’s pension under the Canada Pension Plan or a retirement, disability or surviving spouse’s pension under An Act respecting the Québec Pension Plan, CQLR, c. R-9, information indicating that the person, for at least 40 years, for all or part of each of those years,

    • (i) had unadjusted pensionable earnings under the Canada Pension Plan that were above the person’s basic exemption for that year, or had unadjusted pensionable earnings under An Act respecting the Québec Pension Plan that were above the person’s personal exemption for that year,

    • (ii) received a retirement pension or disability pension under either the Canada Pension Plan or An Act respecting the Québec Pension Plan, or

    • (iii) had time excluded from a contributory period under the Canada Pension Plan because the person was a family allowance recipient, or had time not included in a contributory period under An Act respecting the Québec Pension Plan because the person was a recipient of family benefits; or

  • (b) in the case of a person who is not in receipt of and has not been approved for a retirement, disability or survivor’s pension under the Canada Pension Plan or a retirement, disability or surviving spouse’s pension under An Act respecting the Québec Pension Plan, CQLR, c. R-9, information indicating that the person,

    • (i) for at least 40 years, for all or part of each of those years, met the requirements set out in subparagraph (a)(i), (ii) or (iii), and

    • (ii) for the most recent calendar year for which the filing due date has passed and for at least 40 of the years referred to in subparagraph (i), other than for 1969, 1970 and 1971, filed an income tax return as a resident of Canada with the Minister of National Revenue.

• (9) For the purposes of subsection (8),

  • (a) in relation to the Canada Pension Plan, basic exemption, contributory period and unadjusted pensionable earnings have the same meaning as in subsection 2(1) of that Act and family allowance recipient has the same meaning as in subsection 42(1) of that Act; and

  • (b) in relation to An Act respecting the Québec Pension Plan, R.S.Q., c. R-9, recipient of family benefits, personal exemption, unadjusted pensionable earnings and contributory period have the same meaning as in paragraph 1(v) and sections 43, 98 and 101 of that Act respectively.