Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm Kristen Underwood. I'm a director general in the income security and social development branch of ESDC. I'm here with my colleague Kevin Wagdin, who is a director in the income security and social development branch.
Just quickly, the government is proposing to increase the OAS pension by 10% for seniors 75 and older. As seniors get older, they tend to have lower incomes and often face higher health-related expenses because of the onset of illness or disability. This vulnerability is further compounded by a reduced ability to supplement income with paid work, by the risk of outliving savings, and the risk of becoming a widow or widower as people age.
With this measure, the government is addressing the financial vulnerability that seniors face as they age. It will take place in two parts. Subject to parliamentary approval, the first part will be a taxable one-time payment of $500 in August 2021 to meet the immediate needs of OAS pensioners who are 75 years or older as of June 2022; secondly, a 10% permanent increase will be made to the monthly OAS pension for seniors 75 and older beginning in July 2022.
This change will strengthen the financial security of 3.3 million seniors, 56% of whom are women, and changes to the Old Age Security Act will be made to exempt the one-time payment from the definition of income for the guaranteed income supplement.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm happy to take questions.