How Will Extra Income Affect My Guaranteed Income Supplement?

I’m a retired widow. My only income is CPP and Old Age Security. I also get the Supplement but lately I’ve been thinking about going back to work part time, maybe one day a week, as a Greeter at Walmart. How will this extra income affect my Supplement?

The Supplement is based on your net income excluding Old Age Security. For single seniors with no other source of income, the Supplement will increase income levels to $15,438. As income is added, the Supplement is reduced by 50% of the additional income until the income level reaches $16,560 at which point the Supplement is reduced to zero.

So, if your CPP pension was $6,000 annually, for example, with no employment income, your Supplement would be $439.28 per month, giving a total annual income of $17,824 including CPP, OAS and the Supplement. If you went back to work and earned say $5,000, your income from CPP and employment would total $11,000 and your Supplement would be reduced to $231.28 per month, giving you a total annual income of $20,328, an increase of $2,504. The additional earnings would not attract any federal income tax though because your personal amounts would be more than your income. In some provinces you may have some provincial tax to pay.