Canada Gazette, Part I, Volume 158, Number 40: Regulations Amending the Old Age Security Regulations
October 5, 2024
Statutory authority
Old Age Security Act
Sponsoring department
Department of Employment and Social
Development
REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT
For the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement, see the Regulations Amending the Canada Pension Plan Regulations.
PROPOSED REGULATORY TEXT
Notice is given that the Governor in Council proposes to make the annexed Regulations Amending the Old Age Security Regulations under section 34footnote a of the Old Age Security Act footnote b.
Interested persons may make representations concerning the proposed Regulations within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. They are strongly encouraged to use the online commenting feature that is available on the Canada Gazette website but if they use email, mail or any other means, the representations should cite the Canada Gazette, Part I, and the date of publication of this notice, and be sent to Neal Leblanc, Director, Canada Pension Plan Policy and Legislation, Employment and Social Development Canada, 140 Promenade du Portage, Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0J9 (tel.: 819‑635‑6760; email: neal.leblanc@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca).
Ottawa, September 26, 2024
Wendy Nixon
Assistant Clerk of the Privy Council
Regulations Amending the Old Age Security Regulations
Amendments
1 Section 16 of the Old Age Security Regulations footnote 1 is replaced by the following:
16 (1) If the Minister has not received information in support of an application for a benefit to determine the relationship between the applicant and their spouse or common-law partner, the Minister may require that one of the following documents be submitted:
- (a) in the case of spouses, their certificate of marriage, a copy of that certificate or a copy of an act of marriage; or
- (b) in the case of common-law partners, a statutory declaration setting out information as to the relationship of the common-law partners or, if applicable, any other evidence of that relationship.
(2) If there are reasonable grounds to doubt the validity of the copy of the certificate of marriage or the copy of the act of marriage referred to in paragraph (1)(a), the Minister may require that the original certificate of marriage or, if applicable, the copy of the act of marriage issued by the Directeur de l’état civil be submitted.
(3) If there are reasonable grounds to believe that a document referred to in paragraph (1)(a) is not available, the Minister may determine the relationship between the applicant and their spouse on the basis of a statutory declaration setting out information as to the marriage or, if applicable, any other evidence of the marriage.
2 Section 18 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:
18 (1) Subject to subsections (2) to (4) and section 19, the Minister must determine the age and identity of an applicant for the purposes of the Act on the basis of
- (a) a birth certificate, a copy of that certificate or a copy of an act of birth; or
- (b) any information made available to the Minister by the Canada Employment Insurance Commission under subsection 28.2(5) of the Department of Employment and Social Development Act.
(2) If there are reasonable grounds to doubt the validity of the copy of the birth certificate or the copy of the act of birth referred to in paragraph (1)(a), the Minister may require that the original birth certificate or, if applicable, the copy of the act of birth issued by the Directeur de l’état civil be submitted.
(3) If there are reasonable grounds to believe that a birth certificate, copy of that certificate or a copy of an act of birth is not available, the Minister may determine the age and identity of an applicant on the basis of any other evidence or information with respect to the age and identity of the applicant.
(4) If the Minister is unable to determine the age and identity of an applicant under any of subsections (1) to (3), the Minister may, if possible, determine the age and identity of the applicant on the basis of any information obtained from Statistics Canada under section 6 of the Act.
18.1 For the purposes of section 6 of the Act, the Minister may, on request and for the purpose specified in that section, obtain from Statistics Canada any information respecting the age of a pensioner or applicant, under the following conditions:
- (a) the request to Statistics Canada must
- (i) be made in the form prescribed by the Chief Statistician of Canada,
- (ii) bear the signed consent of the person concerning whom the information is sought, and
- (iii) provide the specific information that is necessary for the purpose of making a search of the census records; and
- (b) any information supplied by Statistics Canada must be kept confidential and must not be used for any purpose other than that of establishing the age of the applicant as required under the Act or the Canada Pension Plan, as the case may be.
Coming into Force
3 These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.
Terms of use and Privacy notice
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