What this calculator computes
The Canada Pension Plan pays a different monthly amount depending on the age you start it, and the rule is exact and public: Service Canada permanently reduces your pension for every month you start before 65, and permanently increases it for every month you delay past 65. This calculator applies that rule to your own estimated age-65 amount, then does the arithmetic most people actually want: what does each start age pay monthly and per year, what does each add up to by a given age, and — since the smaller early cheques arrive first — at what age does waiting actually overtake starting early?
The adjustment, in plain text
Those two rates — 0.6% a month early (7.2% a year) and 0.7% a month late (8.4% a year) — are Service Canada's own published figures, and they cap at 60 months in either direction: starting any earlier than 60 isn't allowed, and delaying past 70 buys nothing further. Because the adjustment is a multiplier on your own amount, the percentages (64%, 100%, 142%) are identical for everyone; only the dollar figure they're applied to changes from person to person.
Worked example
Take the 2026 average for someone starting at 65: $877.01 a month ($10,524.12 a year). Starting at 60 applies the maximum 36% reduction (0.6% × 60 months): $877.01 × 0.64 = $561.29 a month ($6,735 a year) — $315.72 less every month, for life. Waiting to 70 applies the maximum 42% increase (0.7% × 60 months): $877.01 × 1.42 = $1,245.35 a month ($14,944 a year) — $368.34 more every month than starting at 65, and $684.07 more than starting at 60.
Running the same 12-month-a-year total out to a planning horizon of 87 (roughly the StatCan life expectancy for a 65-year-old woman) makes the trade-off concrete: starting at 60 totals about $181,857 by 87; at 65, about $231,531; at 70, about $254,052. Waiting keeps winning on total dollars the longer you assume you'll live — which is exactly why the break-even ages below matter more than any single total on its own.
Break-even ages, and why they don't depend on your amount
Because both sides of the comparison scale with the same age-65 amount, it cancels out of the equation entirely — the break-even ages above (roughly 74, 82 and 78) hold whether your own CPP is $400 a month or $1,500. They only move if you change which ages you're comparing, or — using the optional field above — assume the earlier, smaller cheques get invested rather than spent. Invest them at a real return and the earlier option compounds a head start, so the break-even age moves later; at high enough assumed returns for a short enough gap, the early option can stay ahead indefinitely, in which case the calculator reports that instead of a fake crossing age.
When starting early can make sense — and when it usually doesn't
Starting CPP before 65 tends to make sense when health or family history point to a shorter-than-average retirement, when you need the cash flow now more than a larger amount later (paying down debt, bridging a gap before another pension or RRSP withdrawals start), or when you've already stopped working and a smaller guaranteed cheque beats drawing down savings. It tends not to make sense when you're still working and earning enough that CPP would mostly go to income tax, when you or your household have reasonable longevity odds and other savings to bridge the gap, or when a higher-earning spouse's eventual survivor benefit is what you're really optimizing for. None of that is arithmetic this calculator can see — it only shows you the numbers each choice produces.
Working while collecting: the Post-Retirement Benefit
Starting CPP doesn't have to freeze the amount for life if you keep working. Every year you contribute while collecting your pension earns a small top-up called the Post-Retirement Benefit (PRB) — paid on top of your regular pension, for life, and itself indexed to inflation. Contributions are mandatory while working and under 65, optional from 65 to 70 (opt out with form CPT30), and stop accruing entirely after 70. For 2026 the maximum PRB is $54.69 a month per year contributed; the average recipient gets $25.76 a month. It's a modest add-on, not a reason on its own to change your start age, but it's part of the full picture if you plan to keep working.
Where OAS fits in
Old Age Security (OAS) is a separate, non-contributory pension — you don't pay into it the way you do CPP — worth roughly $742 to $762 a month for ages 65–74 through 2026 (it rises each quarter with inflation — the next bump is +1.4% in October; 10% more from 75), adjusted quarterly rather than annually. It can also be deferred past 65, up to age 70, for its own permanent increase. Higher earners should know OAS is subject to a "clawback": for July 2026 through June 2027, it starts being reduced once net income passes about $93,454 and is fully clawed back above about $152,062. This calculator covers CPP only — OAS runs on its own separate rules.
This page is arithmetic applied to Service Canada's published factors — general information, not personal financial or tax advice. Your health, other income, employment plans and household situation all matter more to this decision than any single break-even number; talk to a financial planner or Service Canada about your own case.
FAQ
How much less is CPP if I start at 60?
36% less than your age-65 amount, permanently. Service Canada reduces the pension by 0.6% for every month you start before 65 — 60 months early at 60 means 0.6% × 60 = 36%, leaving 64% of your age-65 entitlement for the rest of your life. Someone entitled to $877.01 a month at 65 gets $561.29 a month at 60.
How much more is CPP if I wait until 70?
42% more than your age-65 amount, permanently. The pension increases 0.7% for every month you delay past 65, up to a maximum of 60 months — 0.7% × 60 = 42%, so at 70 you receive 142% of your age-65 entitlement. There is no benefit to waiting past 70; the increase simply stops. On $877.01 at 65, that's $1,245.35 a month at 70.
What is the break-even age for CPP?
Around age 74 for choosing 65 over 60, around age 82 for choosing 70 over 65, and around age 78 for choosing 70 over 60 — the age by which the larger, later cheques have paid back the head start the earlier ones had, assuming no investment growth on the difference. These ages come out of Service Canada's 0.6%/0.7% factors alone, so — perhaps surprisingly — they're the same for everyone regardless of your own dollar amount.
Does CPP keep up with inflation?
Yes. CPP payments in pay are adjusted every January based on the 12-month change in the Consumer Price Index — the adjustment applied for January 2026 was +2.0%. Because of that indexing, this calculator works entirely in today's dollars: your amount, the lifetime totals and the break-even ages are all real (inflation-adjusted) figures, not numbers you need to inflate yourself.
What is the CPP Post-Retirement Benefit?
If you work and contribute to CPP after you start collecting it, each year of contributions earns you a small top-up called the Post-Retirement Benefit (PRB), paid on top of your regular pension for life and itself indexed to inflation. Contributions are mandatory if you're working and under 65, and optional from 65 to 70 (you can opt out using form CPT30); nothing more accrues after 70. For 2026 the maximum PRB is $54.69 a month per year of contributions, and the average is $25.76 a month.
Is this a recommendation of when I should start CPP?
No — it's arithmetic, not advice. It applies Service Canada's own published factors to the numbers you enter so you can see the trade-off clearly; it can't know your health, your other savings, whether you're still working, or whether a spouse depends on your income. Those are exactly the things that should drive the actual decision, ideally with a financial planner or a call to Service Canada.