How much CPP will I get at 60, 65 or 70?

Your CPP is 64% of your age-65 amount at 60, 100% at 65 and 142% at 70. It drops 0.6% for every month you start before 65 and grows 0.7% for every month you wait after 65, and the change is permanent. Enter your estimate at 65 (from your My Service Canada statement) and cinder.fi shows the monthly amount at every start age from 60 to 70.

How is my CPP benefit calculated?

From your earnings and contributions between age 18 and the month you start. Your lowest 17% of years are dropped, and years raising a child under 7 or on CPP disability can also be excluded. Service Canada applies all of this in your Statement of Contributions, so the most accurate input is its estimate at 65. Without one, cinder.fi estimates it from your income with a simplified model that does not replay your year-by-year record.

Does this calculator include OAS?

Yes. OAS starts at 65 and grows 0.6% for every month you delay, up to 36% at 70. cinder.fi adds it to your CPP, applies the 15% OAS clawback above the income threshold, models the Guaranteed Income Supplement for lower incomes, and shows the combined after-tax income year by year.

Is there a QPP calculator for Quebec?

Yes. If you live in Quebec, cinder.fi switches to QPP automatically, with Quebec contribution rates and provincial tax. It uses the same 60 to 70 start window and the same 0.6% and 0.7% monthly adjustments as CPP, so check Retraite Québec for your exact QPP figures.

Is the CPP calculator free?

Yes. Choosing your CPP and OAS start ages and seeing the result in your full retirement projection is free, with no credit card. Pro adds the Strategy Optimizer, which searches CPP and OAS timing for you, and the break-even chart.

CPP, OAS and QPP Calculator: What Is Your Pension at 60, 65 or 70?

Enter your CPP estimate at 65 (or let cinder.fi estimate it from your income), pick a start age from 60 to 70, and see the monthly amount and what it does to your whole retirement. Your CPP is reduced 0.6% for every month before 65 (36% less at 60) and increased 0.7% for every month after (42% more at 70). OAS starts at 65 and grows 0.6% a month if you wait, up to 36% at 70. Quebec residents get the same calculation for QPP. It is free to start and needs no credit card.

The Canada Pension Plan is the base of most Canadians’ retirement income. What you receive depends on when you start, how long you contributed, and how your earnings compare to the average wage over your career. The “maximum CPP” figure tells you little: your benefit comes from your own contributory record, and your claiming age can swing your annual income by more than 40%.

cinder.fi models your CPP and OAS within a full retirement projection, showing how they interact with RRSP/RRIF withdrawals, provincial tax and your spending target, year by year from retirement to age 95. If you are weighing the decision itself, read when to take CPP for the break-even ages and the factors beyond them.

CPP and OAS break-even analysis showing cumulative benefits by claiming age — Lifetime CPP and OAS received for each starting age: a later start pays less early on and more over a long life.

CPP by start age: the 0.6% and 0.7% rules

You can start CPP as early as 60 or as late as 70. The adjustment is permanent and is set against your age-65 amount:

Start age	Share of your age-65 CPP
60	64%
62	78.4%
63	85.6%
65	100%
67	116.8%
68	125.2%
70	142%

Before 65: your benefit is reduced by 0.6% for every month before your 65th birthday, or 7.2% a year. Starting at 60 means a 36% reduction.
After 65: your benefit increases by 0.7% for every month you wait, or 8.4% a year. Waiting until 70 adds 42%. There is nothing to gain by waiting past 70.

The break-even ages follow from those rates. Before inflation and investment returns, starting at 60 instead of 65 pays more until about age 74, and starting at 70 instead of 65 pays more from about age 82. If you live past that age, waiting wins; if you expect a shorter retirement or need income earlier, starting sooner may make sense. These calculations also interact with your tax situation: higher CPP income pushes up your marginal rate if you also have RRSP withdrawals, a company pension or rental income. cinder.fi models the combined after-tax picture, not just the gross benefit.

How CPP benefits are calculated

CPP retirement benefits are based on your earnings and contributions during your contributory period, from age 18 (or 1966, whichever is later) to the month you start receiving CPP or turn 70. Each year of earnings is compared against the Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings (YMPE), which is $74,600 in 2026. The Government of Canada publishes the current CPP benefit amounts and payment rates, updated every year.

Several provisions reduce the impact of low-earning years:

General drop-out provision: your lowest 17% of contributory years (roughly 8 years for someone who contributed from 18 to 65) are automatically dropped, softening the effect of school, career gaps or early low-income years.
Child-rearing provision: years spent caring for a child under age 7 can be excluded if your earnings dropped during that period.
Disability drop-out: months on CPP disability benefits are excluded from the calculation.

The base CPP replaces about 25% of your average adjusted lifetime earnings, up to the YMPE. The enhancement, whose contributions phased in from 2019 to 2023, raises that to one third (33.33%), but only for the earnings you contribute under the new rules, so the full effect arrives for people who work about 40 years under them.

Service Canada applies the drop-outs and your real earnings history in your Statement of Contributions (My Service Canada Account), so use its estimate at 65 when you have it. cinder.fi’s own income-based estimate is simpler: it scales the maximum benefit by your earnings and years of contribution and does not model individual drop-out years.

CPP2: the second tier (since 2024)

Since 2024, employees and employers also contribute 4% each on earnings between the YMPE and the Year’s Additional Maximum Pensionable Earnings (YAMPE), which was $73,200 in 2024, $81,200 in 2025 and is $85,000 in 2026. CPP2 builds a separate, additional benefit on top of the base and enhanced CPP: it replaces one third of the earnings in that band, phased in over 40 years of contributions. If you are early in your career and earn above the YMPE, CPP2 will noticeably increase your eventual benefit, and cinder.fi’s income-based estimate includes it.

OAS alongside CPP

CPP and OAS are separate programs with separate start dates, and both belong in the same decision:

OAS starts at 65, and you can delay it to 70 for 0.6% more for every month (36% at 70). You cannot start it early.
The OAS clawback takes back 15 cents of OAS for every dollar of net income above $95,323 (2026). CPP counts as income, so a larger CPP can pull you toward the threshold; how to avoid the OAS clawback covers the ways around it.
GIS: the Guaranteed Income Supplement is income-tested, and CPP, RRIF and RRSP withdrawals all count as income. Lower-income retirees should model the full interaction before delaying.

QPP: Quebec’s parallel plan

Quebec residents contribute to and receive benefits from the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) instead of CPP. QPP and CPP are broadly similar but differ in several ways:

QPP benefit and contribution rates are set independently by Retraite Québec (formerly the Régie des rentes du Québec).
QPP has its own enhancement, which phased in slightly differently than CPP’s.
Its disability benefit has somewhat different eligibility rules.
Credits are transferable between QPP and CPP for Canadians who have worked in Quebec and elsewhere.

For Quebec residents, cinder.fi applies the QPP and QPP2 contribution rates and Quebec provincial tax, and runs the same 60 to 70 start window and 0.6% and 0.7% monthly adjustments as CPP. Enter your estimate from Retraite Québec for the most accurate result.

CPP in the broader retirement picture

When you claim CPP affects several other parts of your plan:

RRSP withdrawal timing: a common strategy is to delay CPP, draw down RRSP/RRIF balances earlier, then live on CPP, OAS and TFSA withdrawals in your late retirement. This can reduce mandatory RRIF withdrawals, lower lifetime tax and sometimes increase GIS eligibility.
Working while you collect: there has been no work cessation test since 2012. If you are under 65 and still working, you must keep contributing; from 65 to 70 contributions are optional and build a small Post-Retirement Benefit.

Delay to 70, or start earlier?

Case for delaying to 70: you are in good health, have other income to bridge the gap (RRSP, TFSA, savings or part-time work), and are concerned about longevity risk. Delaying gets you the largest guaranteed, inflation-indexed income stream available in Canada, and a higher CPP floor means less pressure on your portfolio in your 80s.

Case for starting at 60 or 65: you have a health condition that limits life expectancy, no other retirement income and a need for cash flow now, or you are in a high marginal tax bracket where extra CPP income is heavily taxed.

There is no single right answer. It depends on your health, income sources, provincial tax rates and risk tolerance. The when to take CPP guide walks through the trade-offs with a worked example.

How cinder.fi helps

Set your CPP and OAS start ages in your plan and the projection updates with the after-tax effect on RRSP/RRIF drawdown, GIS, provincial tax and your estate. Save a second scenario with a different start age, such as CPP at 65 against 70, to compare them side by side, including how long your portfolio lasts. The Strategy Optimizer (Pro) searches CPP and OAS timing together with withdrawal order and meltdown amounts for you, and the break-even chart (Pro) plots the cumulative benefits by start age. Choosing the start ages and reading the result are free.

Check your own numbers

See how CPP and OAS claiming ages affect your whole retirement, not just the monthly cheque. cinder.fi models how CPP, OAS, RRSP withdrawals and your tax bracket interact.

Build your CPP and OAS plan →

April 2, 2026 · 6 min read