Old Age Security Act

Marginal note:Payment of allowance

• 19 (1) Subject to this Act and the regulations, an allowance may be paid to the spouse, common-law partner or former common-law partner of a pensioner for a month in a payment period if the spouse, common-law partner or former common-law partner, as the case may be,

  • (a) in the case of a spouse, is not separated from the pensioner, or has separated from the pensioner where the separation commenced after June 30, 1999 and not more than three months before the month in the payment period;

  • (a.1) in the case of a former common-law partner, has separated from the pensioner where the separation commenced after June 30, 1999 and not more than three months before the month in the payment period;

  • (b) in the case of a spouse, common-law partner or former common-law partner, has attained sixty years of age but has not attained sixty-five years of age; and

  • (c) in the case of a spouse, common-law partner or former common-law partner, has resided in Canada after attaining eighteen years of age and prior to the day on which their application is approved for an aggregate period of at least ten years and, where that aggregate period is less than twenty years, was resident in Canada on the day preceding the day on which their application is approved.

• Marginal note:Residence in Canada must be or have been legal

  (2) A person is eligible for an allowance under this section only if

  • (a) on the day preceding the day on which that person’s application for an allowance is approved that person is a Canadian citizen or, if not, is legally resident in Canada; or

  • (b) on the day preceding the day that person ceased to reside in Canada that person was a Canadian citizen or, if not, was legally resident in Canada.

• Marginal note:Regulations respecting legal residence

  (3) The Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the meaning of legal residence for the purposes of subsection (2).

• Marginal note:Must apply annually

  (4) Subject to subsection (4.1), no allowance may be paid under this section to the spouse or common-law partner of a pensioner in any payment period unless a joint application of the pensioner and the spouse or common-law partner, or an application described in section 30, has been made for payment of an allowance in respect of that payment period and payment of the allowance has been approved under this Part.

• Marginal note:Waiver of application

  (4.1) The Minister may waive the requirement referred to in subsection (4) for an application for payment of an allowance for any month or months in a payment period if an application for payment of an allowance has been made in respect of any payment period before that payment period.

• Marginal note:Notice where subsequent application required

  (4.2) Where the requirement for an application for any month or months in a payment period has been waived under subsection (4.1) and an application is required for payment of an allowance for any subsequent month or months in that payment period, the Minister shall, not later than fifteen days before that subsequent month or the first of those subsequent months, notify the spouse or common-law partner in writing that an application is required.

• Marginal note:Cancellation of waiver

  (4.3) Notwithstanding that the requirement for an application for any month or months has been waived under subsection (4.1), the Minister may require that an application referred to in subsection (4) be made for payment of an allowance for that month or for any of those months, and in such a case, the Minister shall, not later than fifteen days before that month or the first of those months, notify the spouse or common-law partner in writing that an application is required.

• Marginal note:Cessation of allowance

  (5) An allowance under this section ceases to be payable on the expiration of the month in which the spouse, common-law partner or former common-law partner in respect of whom it is paid dies, becomes the spouse or common-law partner of another person, or no longer meets the conditions set out in subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Limitations

  Footnote ^*(6) No allowance may be paid under this section to the spouse or common-law partner of a pensioner pursuant to an application therefor for

  • (a) any month that is more than 11 months before the month in which the application is received or is deemed to have been made or in which the requirement for an application has been waived, as the case may be;

  • (b) any month for which no supplement may be paid to the pensioner;

  • (c) any month throughout which the spouse or common-law partner is absent from Canada, having left Canada either before or after becoming entitled to an allowance under this Part and having remained outside Canada before that month for six consecutive months, exclusive of the month in which he left Canada;

  • (d) any month during which the spouse or common-law partner is

    • (i) a specially qualified individual, and

    • (ii) a person in respect of whom an undertaking by a sponsor is in effect as provided under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act; or

  • (e) in the case of a common-law partner who was not a spouse immediately before the coming into force of this paragraph (“spouse” having in this paragraph the meaning that it had immediately before that coming into force), notwithstanding subsection 23(2), any month before the month in which this paragraph comes into force.

    • Return to footnote ^*[Note: Paragraph 19(6)(e) in force July 31, 2000, see SI/2000-76.]

• Marginal note:Application of para. (6)(b)

  (6.1) Paragraph (6)(b) does not apply to a spouse or common-law partner of a pensioner in respect of a month where a supplement would be payable to the pensioner for that month if the special qualifying factor of that pensioner for that month were equal to one.

• Marginal note:Application of para. (6)(d)

  (6.2) Paragraph (6)(d) does not apply to a spouse or common-law partner where an event as provided by the regulations has occurred.

• Marginal note:Amount of allowance to spouse or common-law partner of pensioner

  (7) The amount of the allowance that may be paid under this section to the spouse or common-law partner of a pensioner shall be determined in accordance with subsection 22(3).