September 2026
The Canadian Association of Retired Persons, in partnership with CFUW (Canadian Federation of University Women), has released a new joint policy paper examining the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) survivor benefit and the financial challenge facing Canadians following the death of a spouse or common-law partner.
For millions of Canadians, CPP is an integral part of retirement security. Couples contribute their entire working lives and often build their retirement plans around two sources of CPP income. However, when one spouse or partner dies, the surviving partner may find that while household income has declined substantially, many household expenses, including taxes, transportation, insurance, home maintenance, utilities, groceries, rent, and other essentials, remain the same.
At the same time, the surviving partner may find themselves having to not only juggle the emotional loss and the challenges of living alone but also how to manage their financial security.
CFUW and CARP believe Canada’s survivor benefit should better reflect this reality.
How the Current System Works
Under the current system, a surviving spouse or common-law partner aged 65 or older who is not already receiving another CPP benefit can generally receive 60% of the deceased contributor’s retirement pension.
The situation becomes more complicated when the survivor already receives their own CPP retirement pension. Instead of receiving their existing pension plus the full survivor benefit, the two benefits combine and are subject to CPP’s combined benefit rules.
As a result, someone already receiving a CPP retirement pension may receive considerably less than the survivor benefit than they expected following the death of their spouse or partner.
Why this Issue Disproportionately Affects Women
The consequences of widowhood are particularly important for older women. Many women now in retirement have spent much of their working years in an economy where they were more likely to earn lower wages, leave the workforce to raise children or care for family members, work in part-time positions, or have less access to workplace pension plans. Those circumstances have continued to affect retirement income decades later.
Women are also significantly more likely to experience widowhood. Statistics Canada reported that in 2022 there were approximately 1.6 million widows in Canada, compared with approximately 472,000 widowers.
These realities mean that weaknesses in survivor protection can have a disproportionate impact on older women who will or have already entered retirement with fewer financial resources.
A Joint Call for Modernization
The release of this paper is part of CARP and CFUW’s ongoing advocacy partnership on an issue affecting surviving spouses across Canada.
Canada’s pension plan is not a system in financial distress but rather has become one of the world’s largest pension investment funds. By December 31, 2025, CPP Investments reported approximately $780.7 billion in net assets and an 8.4% annualized net return over the previous 10 years. That is an important Canadian success story and demonstrates the strength of the CPP investment model.
However, while the sustainability of CPP investment is essential, a system cannot be considered a success if it does not serve its people well, as there still remain gaps in the protection provided to individual retirees.
CARP and CFUW believe that the strength and success of CPP should create an opportunity to examine whether its benefits continue to reflect the realities facing today’s retirees, particularly those who experience a significant loss of household income following the death of a spouse or partner.
A strong pension system should not only be sustainable for future generations. It should also provide meaningful financial security to the Canadians who rely on it today.
Read the full CARP-CFUW Policy Paper HERE
