Old Age Security was designed in 1952 – back when shag carpets and disco were still fashionable. Its goals haven’t been modernized since. It’s time Canada brought retirement policy into the 21st century.

Right now, retired couples with $182,000 of income can get $18,000 a year from Old Age Security (OAS). Taxpayers are spending $14 billion to subsidize retirees with six-figure incomes. That’s inefficient, unfair, and inconsistent with Canadians’ values about helping those most in need.

The fix is for Ottawa to update OAS eligibility by asking retired couples with household incomes over $100,000 to take slightly less - about $3,000 a year on average. The $7 billion we will save is enough to eliminate seniors poverty, and grow housing and income security for young and working age people.

All Canadians deserve to be financially secure, including our aging loved ones. But it's not hard to imagine better ways to address affordability pressures than giving 18,000 annual OAS subsidies to couples with incomes more than 2.5 times the median household income. If we give slightly less to financially secure retiree households, we can invest more in lifting seniors out of poverty, and supporting young and working people to cope with rising costs.

Old Age Security is more generous than other income supports in Canada. A retired couple with $182,000 of income still gets full OAS benefits, while young families have the Canada Child Benefit clawed back at $81,000 - even though seniors have the lowest rates of poverty of all age groups, and enjoy the most wealth. It's time to end this structural ageism against younger people.

Three in four Canadians back a simple fix: modernize Old Age Security to eliminate seniors’ poverty, help younger Canadians get ahead, and shrink the deficit – all without raising taxes. We can get there by asking the 1 in 5 retirees with household incomes above $100,000 to accept a bit less from OAS. 

By slightly reducing Old Age Security for financially secure retirees, we can free up $7 billion every year. That means we'd have more than enough to end poverty for about 400,000 seniors AND invest in priorities for younger and working age Canadians, like income security and affordable housing and education. That's a better path to upholding our commitments to older and younger Canadians alike.