OAS Increase July 2026: 1.2% Raise Confirmed, New Maximums Near $752 (65-74) and $827 (75+)

The July 2026 OAS Increase Is Confirmed: 1.2%

Service Canada has already published the number most retirees are searching for: OAS benefits increase by 1.2% for the July to September 2026 quarter. Applied to the current maximums, that takes the monthly pension from $743.05 to roughly $751.97 if you are 65 to 74, and from $817.36 to roughly $827.17 if you are 75 or older. The first deposit at the new rate lands on July 29, 2026.

Measured against July 2025, OAS is up 2.3% over the year. The 1.2% quarterly jump is the largest of 2026 so far — the April adjustment was a token 0.1% — because the inflation months feeding the July calculation ran hotter than the winter months that fed April. OAS is reviewed every January, April, July, and October against the Consumer Price Index, and the design has one feature retirees consistently underrate: payments never decrease, even when the CPI falls. The floor only moves up.

One labelling note before the tables: Service Canada has announced the 1.2% percentage but publishes its official to-the-penny rate table closer to the July payment. The dollar figures below apply the announced 1.2% to the published April-June maximums — treat the cents as close estimates and the percentage as confirmed.

New OAS Maximums: July to September 2026

Here is what the increase looks like in dollars, for a senior receiving the full pension (40 years of Canadian residence after age 18):

At the July rate, the full pension for a 65-to-74-year-old runs about $9,024 a year, and about $9,926 for the 75-plus group. For context across the year: the January to March 2026 maximum was $742.31 (65-74) and $816.54 (75+), so a senior collecting all of 2026 at the maximum sees at least three different rates on their deposits (a fourth if October adjusts again). If you receive a partial pension because you have fewer than 40 years of residence, the 1.2% applies proportionally to your amount — a senior receiving 30/40ths gets 1.2% on that smaller base. The full quarter-by-quarter breakdown, including GIS and Allowance figures, is in our 2026 OAS payment amounts guide.

OAS Payment Dates for the Rest of 2026

The June 26 deposit is the last one at the April-June rate. Every payment from July 29 onward carries the new rate (until the October adjustment, if any). These dates come from the official Service Canada benefits calendar, and CPP pays on the same days:

GIS Rises 1.2% Too — and July Is Also the GIS Reset Month

The Guaranteed Income Supplement is indexed by the same quarterly mechanism, so the 1.2% applies to GIS as well. The maximum for a single, widowed, or divorced senior moves from $1,109.85 to approximately $1,123.17 per month — about $13.32 more. For a couple where both spouses receive the full OAS pension, each spouse's maximum moves from $668.08 to approximately $676.10. The Allowance maximum rises from $1,411.13 to about $1,428.06, and the Allowance for the Survivor from $1,682.15 to about $1,702.34.

Here is the part most people miss: two separate things happen to GIS in July, and they stack. The first is the 1.2% indexation. The second is the annual recalculation — every July, Service Canada re-tests your GIS entitlement against the income on your prior-year tax return. A senior whose 2025 income jumped (a large RRIF withdrawal, a capital gain, a pension commutation) can see their GIS cut or eliminated for the July 2026 to June 2027 period even as the rate table goes up. The reverse is also true: if 2025 income fell, the July payment can jump well beyond 1.2%. The exact amounts by marital status are in our 2026 GIS payment amounts breakdown, and the income cutoffs that decide whether you qualify at all are in the GIS eligibility and income thresholds guide.

For a single senior with no other income, the combined OAS-plus-GIS floor moves from $1,852.90 to approximately $1,875.14 per month at the July rate — roughly $22,500 a year, with the GIS half of it tax-free.

The Clawback Resets in July: Your 2025 Income Now Decides

July is not just the indexation month — it is the month the OAS recovery tax period rolls over. Under section 180.2 of the Income Tax Act, the clawback removes 15 cents of OAS for every dollar of net world income above the threshold, and the withholding period runs July to June based on the prior year's return:

A worked example. An Ontario retiree, 68, reported $110,000 of net income on her 2025 return — a year inflated by a larger-than-usual RRIF withdrawal. From July 2026 to June 2027, her OAS is reduced by 15% of the $16,546 above the $93,454 threshold: $2,481.90 for the year, about $206.83 withheld from each monthly payment. The 1.2% increase adds roughly $8.92 to her gross pension; the clawback takes back twenty-three times that. For anyone within striking distance of the threshold, the recovery tax — not indexation — is the number that moves the outcome.

Looking one year ahead: the minimum threshold for 2026 income rises to $95,323, which governs the July 2027 to June 2028 period. That makes 2026 a planning year, not just a collection year. Forced RRIF minimums are the most common reason retirees drift over the line in their late 70s — the prescribed withdrawal percentages climb every year, whether you need the money or not. Check where your mandatory draw lands on the 2026 RRIF minimum withdrawal table. In our practice, the retirees who avoid the clawback in their 80s are usually the ones who took larger-than-minimum RRIF withdrawals in their early 70s, while income sat comfortably below the threshold, and moved the excess to a TFSA.

Why Your CPP Deposit Does Not Change in July

A recurring point of confusion every July: CPP and OAS arrive on the same dates, but only the OAS line moves. CPP is indexed once a year, every January, using the annual CPI change — there is no quarterly adjustment. The 2026 CPP maximum at 65 is $1,507.65 per month and the average new retirement pension is $925.35 (January 2026), and both figures hold until January 2027. If your July 29 deposit combines CPP and OAS and the total rises by about $9, that is the OAS portion doing the work. The full CPP figures, including the early-start reduction and the 0.7%-per-month deferral credit, are in our 2026 CPP payment amounts guide.

Deferring OAS? The Increase Raises Your Future Base Too

A question we hear from clients in their mid-60s who are delaying OAS: does waiting mean missing the increases? No — the opposite. OAS grows 0.6% for every month you defer past 65, to a maximum of 36% at age 70, and that bonus percentage is applied to the indexed rate in effect when you start. Someone starting at 70 with the full 36% bonus would receive roughly $1,022.68 per month at the July 2026 rate ($751.97 x 1.36). Every quarterly adjustment between now and your start date lifts that base. Deferral and indexation compound; you forfeit nothing by waiting except the months of payments themselves — which is exactly the trade-off the deferral math is meant to price.

What $8.92 a Month Actually Buys: The Honest Read

The 1.2% increase is real money across millions of recipients, but for an individual household it is $8.92 to $9.81 a month — a partial tank of gas. Quarterly indexation is floor protection, not a raise, and it should not change anyone's retirement plan. The levers that actually move four figures a year for OAS recipients are the ones tied to the July reset: keeping 2026 net income under $95,323 if you are anywhere near the clawback zone, sequencing RRIF withdrawals so a single fat year does not poison a full July-to-June period, and — for lower-income seniors — protecting GIS by spending from TFSA rather than registered accounts. Lower-income households should also note the quarterly GST/HST credit pays its next instalment in early July, stacking with the higher OAS and GIS deposits in the same month.

The Bottom Line

The July 2026 OAS increase is confirmed at 1.2%: roughly $751.97 a month for ages 65 to 74 and $827.17 for 75 and over, first paid July 29, with GIS rising in step. The same week that raise arrives, Service Canada re-tests your clawback against 2025 income ($93,454 threshold) and your GIS against your 2025 return. The increase is automatic. The thresholds are where the planning lives — and 2026 income decisions made now set up the July 2027 reset.