Bill C-490

2nd Session, 39th Parliament,

56 Elizabeth II, 2007

house of commons of canada

BILL C-490

An Act to amend the Old Age Security Act (application for supplement, retroactive payments and other amendments)

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

1. Section 8 of the Old Age Security Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (3):

(4) A person who ceases to have a spouse or common-law partner by reason of the spouse’s or common law partner’s death and who is entitled to receive a supplement under subsection 15(7.3) is also entitled to receive, for a period of six months after the month in which the spouse or common-law partner died, the pension that would have been payable to the spouse or common-law partner.

2. (1) Subsection 11(3) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(3) An application under subsection (2) is deemed to have been made by a person and approved on the day on which the person reached sixty-five years of age, where the information in support of the application has been made available to the Minister under this Act. The Minister shall take all necessary measures to obtain the information and, if the information is obtained, the Minister shall give written notice of the matter to the person before payment of the supplement commences.

(2) Paragraph 11(7)(a) of the Act is repealed.

3. (1) Section 12 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (1.2):

(1.3) The amount of the supplement that may be paid to a pensioner for any month in the payment quarter commencing on January 1 next following the day on which this subsection comes into force is the amount of the supplement that would otherwise be payable plus one hundred and ten dollars, in the case of a person described in paragraph (1)(a) or subparagraph (1)(b)(i).

(2) The portion of subsection 12(2) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

(2) Subject to subsections (1.1) to (1.3), the amount of the supplement that may be paid to a pensioner for any month in any payment quarter commencing after June 30, 2005 is the amount obtained by multiplying

4. (1) Subsection 15(7.1) of the Act is repealed.

(2) Subsections 15(7.2) and (8) of the Act are replaced by the following:

(7.2) Where an application for a supplement in respect of a payment period that commences after June 30, 1999 is made by a person who at any time in the payment period ceases to have a spouse or common-law partner by reason of the spouse’s or common-law partner’s death, the supplement paid to the person, for any month in that payment period that is more than six months after the month in which the spouse or common-law partner died, shall be calculated as though the person did not have a spouse or common-law partner on the last day of the previous payment period.

(7.3) A person who ceases to have a spouse or common-law partner by reason of the spouse’s or common law partner’s death is entitled to receive, for a period of six months after the month in which the spouse or common-law partner died, the supplement that would have been payable to the spouse or common-law partner.

(8) Nothing in subsections (6.1) to (7.3) shall be contrued as limiting or restricting the authority of the Minister to make a direction under subsections (3) to (5.1).

5. Section 26.1 of the Act is replaced by the following:

26.1 When the requirement for an application for a benefit is waived by the Minister under this Act, the application is deemed to have been made by the applicant on the day on which the requirement is waived.

6. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 32: