Old Age Security Regulations

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 information indicating that the person, for at least 40 years, for all or part of each of those years,

• (a) 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, R.S.Q., c. R-9 that were above the person’s personal exemption for that year;

• (b) received a retirement pension or disability pension under either the Canada Pension Plan or An Act respecting the Québec Pension Plan, R.S.Q., c. R-9; or

• (c) 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, R.S.Q., c. R-9 because the person was a recipient of family benefits.

(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.