This is one of the most important financial decisions you will make in retirement. It is also one of the most misunderstood.
Most Canadians pick a CPP start age based on gut feeling, a conversation with a friend, or a vague sense that “getting it early is better.” But the difference between taking CPP at 60 versus 70 can be worth well over $100,000 in lifetime income. That is not a rounding error. It deserves serious thought.
Here is what the numbers actually show.
The three options, side by side
The Canada Pension Plan lets you start collecting anytime between age 60 and 70. The baseline is age 65. Every month you take it before 65, your payment is permanently reduced by 0.6 percent. Every month you delay past 65, it permanently increases by 0.7 percent.
In plain numbers, using the 2026 maximum monthly CPP of $1,507.65 at age 65 as the benchmark:
Start age | Adjustment | Monthly payment (maximum) | Monthly payment (average) |
Age 60 | 36% reduction | $964.90 | $514.41 |
Age 65 | No change | $1,507.65 | $803.76 |
Age 70 | 42% increase | $2,140.85 | $1,140.33 |
That gap between age 60 and age 70 is $1,175.95 per month at the maximum level, or about $626 per month for average earners. Every single month, for the rest of your life.
The breakeven question everyone asks
The most common way people think about this decision is through the breakeven age: the point at which the higher payments from waiting have made up for all the payments you missed by not starting earlier.
Here is how it works in practice:
Taking CPP at 60 versus 65: If you start at 60, you collect five years of payments before someone who waited until 65 receives their first dollar. But those payments are 36 percent smaller. The person who waited at 65 catches up at approximately age 74. If you live past 74, waiting until 65 puts more total money in your pocket.
Taking CPP at 65 versus 70: If you wait until 70, you forgo five years of payments in exchange for 42 percent more per month for life. The breakeven point between starting at 65 versus 70 falls at approximately age 80 to 82. If you live past that point, waiting until 70 wins by a significant margin.
The critical data point here: according to Statistics Canada, life expectancy at birth in Canada reached 82.16 years in 2024. But that is a birth statistic. A 60-year-old who has already survived to that age faces a much longer expected lifespan. Research on Canadian 65-year-old couples shows a 50 percent probability that at least one spouse lives to 94. The average 60-year-old Canadian man can expect to live to approximately 85.8 years, and a woman to approximately 88.5 years.
In other words, the odds strongly favour living past the breakeven age. For most healthy Canadians, the math points toward delaying CPP.
Why so many people still take it at 60
If delay is so often the better financial choice, why do so many Canadians still take CPP at 60? Several reasons are genuinely valid.
You need the income now. If you retire at 60 and your savings are limited, CPP at 60 may be the only way to cover your expenses. There is no virtue in delaying a benefit you actually need.
You have serious health concerns. CPP timing is fundamentally a bet on your own longevity. If your health is poor, or your family history suggests a shorter life, taking CPP earlier makes rational sense. The breakeven calculation only favours delay if you live long enough to reach it.
You want to maximize your estate. CPP has no estate value once you pass away, except for the survivor’s benefit to a spouse. If your priority is leaving wealth to children or grandchildren rather than maximizing your own lifetime income, taking CPP early and investing the proceeds is a reasonable strategy.
Your marginal tax rate will be lower now than later. If you expect your income to rise significantly at 65 due to RRIF withdrawals, rental income, or other sources, taking CPP at 60 when your tax rate is lower can reduce your total lifetime tax bill. This is a legitimate planning consideration that many people overlook.
The case for waiting until 70: the numbers are compelling
For Ontarians who are in good health, have adequate savings to bridge the gap, and are looking to maximize guaranteed lifetime income, the case for deferring CPP to 70 is strong.
Consider an average Ontario earner with a CPP entitlement of $1,000 per month at age 65:
Start age | Monthly payment | Annual payment | Annual difference vs. age 65 |
Age 60 | $640 | $7,680 | $4,320 less |
Age 65 | $1,000 | $12,000 | Baseline |
Age 70 | $1,420 | $17,040 | $5,040 more |
If that person lives to age 85, here is the cumulative picture:
- Starting at 60: 25 years of payments totalling approximately $230,400
- Starting at 65: 20 years of payments totalling approximately $240,000
- Starting at 70: 15 years of payments totalling approximately $255,600
At 85, deferring to 70 has generated roughly $25,000 more than taking it at 60. If that person lives to 90, the gap grows to over $75,000 in favour of waiting. And every payment is indexed to inflation, meaning the advantage compounds over time.
There is also something money cannot fully quantify: the peace of mind of a larger guaranteed income in your 80s and 90s, precisely when your savings may be running lower and healthcare costs tend to rise.
The RRSP bridge strategy: how to fund the gap
One of the most practical approaches for Ontarians who want to defer CPP but need income between 60 and 70 is the RRSP bridge strategy. Rather than taking CPP early, you draw down your RRSP first during the years you are waiting, then rely on your higher CPP for the rest of your life.
This approach works especially well if your RRSP is large and you expect mandatory RRIF withdrawals to push you into a higher tax bracket after age 71. Drawing on your RRSP early at a lower tax rate, while letting your CPP grow, can produce a meaningfully better after-tax outcome than the reverse.
The key insight: RRSP money is not protected from tax. CPP, once you start it, is protected from inflation. Spending the taxable asset first while growing the inflation-protected one is often the smarter sequence.
Four questions to answer before deciding
Before choosing your CPP start age, get honest answers to these four questions:
What is your health outlook? Not a guess. A real conversation with your doctor about your current health, chronic conditions, and family history. This is the single biggest variable in the breakeven calculation.
What are your other income sources between 60 and 70? If you have a defined benefit pension, substantial RRSP savings, or rental income, bridging the gap while deferring CPP is feasible. If you have nothing else to draw on, early CPP may be your only realistic option.
What will your income look like at 65 and 71? If OAS at 65 and mandatory RRIF withdrawals at 71 are going to push your income above the $95,323 OAS clawback threshold, taking CPP earlier at a lower tax rate may preserve more after-tax income. Timing these income streams together is where proper planning creates real dollar value.
Are you married or in a common-law relationship? CPP provides a survivor’s benefit of up to 60 percent of your pension to a surviving spouse. A higher CPP, locked in by deferring to 70, means a higher survivor’s benefit for your partner if you pass first. For couples, this coordination matters enormously.
The bottom line
There is no single right answer to when you should take CPP. But there is a right process for finding your answer, and it involves more than a quick calculation on the back of a napkin.
For most healthy Ontarians with adequate savings, the data favours deferring CPP as long as financially feasible, ideally to 70, because the guaranteed, inflation-indexed income increase outperforms what most conservative investments can reliably deliver over a 20 to 30 year retirement.
For those with health concerns, limited savings, or specific tax planning needs, taking CPP earlier may be the right call.
The decision you make on this question is permanent. CPP cannot be restarted at a higher amount once you begin. That alone is reason enough to get a personalized projection done before you choose.