I think you're referring to the residency requirement for the purpose of being eligible to receive OAS benefits. You need to have 10 years of residence. When we enter into an agreement, years of residence in another country can count for these years of residence. I want to be very clear that this is only for eligibility, it is not the issue of the level of the benefit. The level of the benefit is based on years of residence in Canada. If we sign an agreement with a country and someone from that country moves to Canada and has lived all his life here, that person may be eligible immediately for OAS and, by virtue of being eligible for OAS, are eligible for GIS, the guaranteed income supplement. But if that person moved to Canada a year ago and is now over 65, then one-fortieth of the benefit is paid.
On October 6th, 2009. See this statement in context.