We’ve been warning this was coming.
CARP has been sounding the alarm for years about the growing movement to undermine Old Age Security (OAS) — and we were called alarmists.
Well, wake up everyone! The alarm is ringing.
Dr. Paul Kershaw and his organization, Generation Squeeze, were on Parliament Hill this week pushing for cuts to OAS, claiming it’s “unfair” to younger Canadians. The Globe and Mail gives him regular columns where he promotes generational warfare — and the editorial board and columnists join the chorus, repeating the same talking points about “wealthy seniors” and “handouts.”
Let’s be clear: this is an attack on every middle-class senior in Canada.
The Truth
The truth is that Old Age Security is a lifeline, not a luxury.
It keeps millions of older Canadians above water in a time of rising costs, inflation, and shrinking support systems.
It’s not the rich who depend on OAS; it’s ordinary people — retired labourers and daycare workers, small-business owners, tradespeople, and truckers — who worked hard all their lives, paid their taxes, and contributed to this country in every way.
What They Don’t Tell You
OAS clawbacks are based on pre-tax income — not on what seniors actually take home.
A retiree earning about $91,000 before tax might bring home closer to $60,000 after deductions, yet that’s when Ottawa starts clawing back their OAS. The benefit disappears entirely near $148,000 in individual pre-tax income.
Meanwhile, almost half of single seniors in Canada live on less than $35,000 a year — and many far less.
They’re not living in luxury — they’re paying rent, helping adult children and grandkids, covering drug costs, and trying to keep up with record inflation.
And here’s the truth: only about 6% of Canadian seniors earn over $100,000, and barely 2% make more than $150,000.
Yet Dr. Kershaw wants to rebuild the entire OAS system around that tiny fraction — punishing the 94% of seniors who are anything but wealthy.
The Numbers That Matter
Older Canadians are not a burden — they are the fiscal backbone of this country.
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Seniors pay roughly $70 billion a year in income taxes, more than 20% of the national total.
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They pay about 40% of all property taxes.
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They contribute billions more in GST/HST every year through daily spending.
In total, Canadians 65+ contribute over $100 billion annually in taxes, yet they are framed as lazy, greedy, and entitled.
A Message for Ottawa
Prime Minister Mark Carney is an economist. He knows numbers.
And CARP is urging him not to fall for Dr. Kershaw’s bad math and generational resentment.
You don’t “help” younger Canadians by dismantling the social contract that built this country.
OAS has already reduced seniors’ poverty from 40% to under 6%.
Undoing it now, under the false banner of “inter-generational fairness,” would erase one of Canada’s greatest social successes.
This isn’t about fairness — it’s about cutting billions from seniors to bankroll Dr. Paul Kershaw’s pet projects.
He says his plan would “help younger Canadians,” but let’s be clear — that’s the sales pitch, not the motive. His campaign, funded by government-backed institutions like the University of British Columbia and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, isn’t about intergenerational equity. It’s about redirecting seniors’ benefits into social programs that fit his own ideological agenda.
Kershaw’s brand of “fairness” means taking from those who built the country and redistributing it to fund experiments that serve his policy wish list. He calls it balance. We call it betrayal.
CARP will not let that happen.
We will continue to expose this false narrative, defend Old Age Security, and stand up for the Canadians who worked a lifetime to earn it — because OAS is not a handout, it’s a promise.
We’ve Been Here Before
We’ve fought and won before:
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We reversed the OAS age hike.
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We secured pension income splitting.
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We ended mandatory retirement.
And we’ll fight again — because this is about respect, fairness, and keeping the promise Canada made to every working person:
that after a lifetime of contribution, you won’t be left behind.
Anthony Quinn, President
Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP)
