DCHP-3

Old Age Security

DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)

Spelling variants:
OAS, old-age security, old age security

n. Administration

a federal pension program that oversees the payment of pensions to Canadian citizens over a certain age (now 65).

Type: 2. Preservation The Old Age Security program was officially introduced in Canada in 1951 with the passing of the Old Age Security Act. After an amendment to the British North America Act, the federal government began to operate a pension plan for citizens 70 years of age or older. Old age security initiatives in North America can be traced back to the American Federation of Labor which, under the leadership of Samuel Gompers, dominated and influenced the Canadian union movement by 1900 (see also Babcock 1974: 29-37). The Canada Pension Plan came into effect in 1966 to remedy shortcomings of the Old Age Security program.
Today, the term Old Age Security is overwhelmingly used in Canada (see Chart 1) and is administered in conjunction with the Canada Pension Plan.
See also Maple Leaf Web and Canadian Encyclopedia references.
See also COD-2, s.v. "old age security" which is marked "Cdn."

Quotations

1929
Unemployment, wages and hours, cost of living, organization progress, economic and industrial progress, and old age security, are the chief subjects dealt with in the 93-page report of the executive council of the American Federation of Labor, which was presented to the delegates at the opening session of the concention in the Royal York hotel by Secretary Frank Morrison to-day. [...] Under the heading of old age security, the council recommends compulsory laws, requiring a pension commission for every county, paying a pension of at least $300 annually, at the age of 65.
1939
Representatives of the five City Hall Associations, acting on behalf of all the employees in the civic service except police and firemen, joined together yesterday to request inauguration of a plan that would provide old-age security through payment of all pensions to all retired City Hall employees.
1947
The exaction of income tax from those earning $3000 or less is a mistake. Married workers in this bracket have no margin of savings for insurance, medical expenses, better housing, old age security, etc.
1958
Robert M. Clark, BCom., B.A. '42, A.M., Ph.D.(Harvard), Associate Professor, Department of Economics and Political Science, U.B.C., has been asked by the Federal Government to make a study of the Old Age Security System of the United States and compare it with the Old Age Security System of Canada.
1978
Benefits such as old-age security, family allowances and unemployment insurance are taxable, so part of the increases go back to Ottawa as income tax.
1989
The government has escaped the ground swell of opposition which defeated the government's attempt in 1985 to de-index old age security payments.
1999
Old-age security pensions, paid to those aged 65 and older, will increase between about $2 and $5 dollars a month in the new year, Human Resources Development Canada announced yesterday.
2008
People already have three possible sources of retirement income -- Canada Pension Plan and its subsidiaries like Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement, plus corporate pensions, as well as RRSPs.
2014
By March 1952, Old Age Security was being paid to over 643,000 people. [...] In comparison, combined Old Age Security and Canada Pension Plan payments totalled $42 billion in 2000 and represented about 25 per cent of federal spending in Canada.

References

Images


        
        Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 9 Dec. 2013

Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 9 Dec. 2013