Budget 2026: Important Initiatives for Older Canadians

On November 5, 2026, the Minister of Finance tabled the federal budget, titled Masters of Our Destiny (Budget 2026). There were several initiatives announced that will impact the lives of older Canadians. 

1. Income Security

Fully Refundable Canada Caregiver Credit

The NIA welcomes the Budget 2026 announcement of the transformation of the Canada Caregiver Credit (CCC) into a fully refundable benefit. This is a change the NIA is proud to have advocated for alongside the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence and partners across Canada. 

Through $845 million in support allocated over four years starting in 2027–28, this refundable tax credit will provide up to $1,260 annually to caregivers. The Finance Department estimates 585,000 caregivers will benefit from this reform, including 180,000 low-income caregivers who previously received no benefit because they paid little or no personal income tax (Budget 2026, p. 192). 

With 15% of older adults acting as caregivers, and 49% of caregivers reporting experiencing financial strain, this new refundable benefit will put much needed dollars into the pockets of caregivers. 

Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit

The NIA is pleased that Budget 2026 announced another one-time top up to the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit (formerly the GST tax credit) to be delivered in 2027. This would provide up to $339 for a single person. While this will provide short-term relief to the 1 in 5 older adults who are experiencing a poverty level standard of living, targeted and sustained investments are needed to address the long-term, persistent poverty being experienced by many older Canadians. 

Disability Tax Credit and the Registered Disability Savings Plan

Budget 2026 reaffirms the proposals made in the 2026 Spring Economic Update, including the expansion of medical practitioners qualified to certify Disability Tax Credit (DTC) eligibility (Budget 2026, p. 426). 

Additionally, Budget 2026 permanently allows qualifying family members to open a Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) on behalf of an adult whose capacity to enter into a RDSP contract is in question and has no legal representation. The RDSP is a tax-assisted savings plan designed to financially support a beneficiary eligible for the DTC. Allowing family members to open RDSPs will prevent adults with cognitive impairments from losing access to tax-assisted savings (Budget 2026, p. 384).

These are important steps forward, but barriers remain. The DTC has become the de facto entry point to access numerous disability supports, yet according to Statistics Canada, just 14.6% of persons with disabilities and only 34.8% of those with very severe disabilities claim the DTC. This is due in large part to administrative barriers and an overly restrictive definition of disability. Along with Maytree and partners across Canada, the NIA continues to advocate for fundamental reforms to DTC, as outlined here.

Automatic Tax Filing

The Federal Government continues to work towards expanding automatic tax filing. Budget 2026 proposed $312 million over three years to expand automatic tax filing to an additional 150,000 people. This includes funds for Canada Revenue Agency to strengthen outreach with people disconnected from the tax and benefit system. These individuals may have complex needs, and connecting them to the tax system can unlock financial benefits that they are currently missing. 

National Anti-Fraud Strategy

As announced previously, the Federal Government continues to work towards a National Anti-Fraud Strategy to tackle the threat to the financial well-being of Canadians (Budget 2026, p. 276). Given that financial exploitation is one of the most common forms of elder abuse, comprising 62% of cases, targeted federal law enforcement against telemarketing scams and financial fraud is urgently needed.

Budget 2026 signals the federal government’s intention to legislate a Multi-Sector Anti-Fraud Framework that requires organizations across financial and telecommunications sectors, and digital platforms to prevent, detect, disrupt, and respond to fraud, and to collaborate with each other to resolve fraud-related complaints. The Framework will be supported by other legislative amendments to the Bank Act, Telecommunications Act, and Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation to ensure the implementation of sector-specific anti-fraud requirements (Budget 2026, p. 277). 

The NIA is encouraged by the steps being taken under the National Anti-Fraud Strategy and related to older Canadians. Financial abuse is more prevalent among older adults due to a variety of factors including high rates of social isolation, cultural or linguistic barriers, and sensory, mobility or cognitive impairments, which may increase reliance on family members, guardians, and caregivers. In addition, older adults are often perceived as wealthier or having significant assets making them attractive targets for financial crime. This heightens the risk of financial exploitation and makes it more difficult for victims and staff at financial institutions to recognize any warning signs during banking interactions.

The NIA urges the federal government to ensure that:

• The financial abuse of older adults is addressed in both the legislative framework and enforcement priorities of the Financial Crimes Agency;
• The implementation of the Code of Conduct for Prevention of Economic Abuse includes mandatory staff training to identify non-digital warning signs, such as abrupt changes to power-of-attorney documents or pressure from family members; and
• Anti-fraud reporting tools and complaint mechanisms are accessible via phone and in-person banking for older adults who experience sensory barriers or other challenges with on-line banking.

2. Pensions and Retirement Savings

Benefits Modernization

The federal government is proposing to spend an additional $705.3 million over six years starting in 2026–27 for the final phase of Benefits Delivery Modernisation, moving Canada Pension Plan (CPP), Old Age Security (OAS), and Employment Insurance (EI) onto a new cloud-based platform (Budget 2026, p. 300). This program began in 2017 at a projected cost of $1.75 billion but, with this tranche of funding, total costs exceed $3 billion. The stated goal for the migration to a new platform is to improve accessibility and reliability of benefit applications and payments (Budget 2026, p. 310). The new platform is intended to benefit older adults, persons with disabilities, and people with lower incomes for whom timely and dependable access to benefits can be especially important to financial security (Budget 2026, p. 310). A significant portion of this cost will be borne by CPP contributors.

While the NIA supports investing in infrastructure to ensure older adults receive their benefits reliably, there is a missed opportunity to look at benefits rules to improve retirement security. Implementing the Pension Delay Guarantee (PDG) as a low-cost benefit would enhance retirement security by addressing the well-documented behaviour known as “loss aversion” that leads most Canadians to claim CPP retirement benefits early and miss out on significantly higher lifelong inflation-protected monthly payments. Under the current governance framework for the CPP, administrative charges like the Benefits Delivery Modernisation program do not require provincial approval but benefit design changes like the PDG do.

The “RRSP-for-Life”

Budget 2026 announces an intention to simplify registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs) and registered retirement income funds (RRIFs) into a single “RRSP-for-life” account. Under current income tax rules, Canadians are required to convert their RRSP into a RRIF upon turning 71. The RRSP-for-life would eliminate the need to make this conversion. The simplification would also allow a surviving spouse or common-law partner to become a successor holder of the RRSP account, allowing the account to remain open until that survivor dies. The simplification would not change the minimum withdrawal requirements after age 71 (Budget 2026, p. 393).

The NIA welcomes the administrative and estate-planning simplification, particularly the elimination of unnecessary tax penalties for survivors. While “RRSP-for-life” is not a new savings grant nor an increase in RRSP contribution room, it is intended to ease the management of retirement income and the transfer of retirement savings to survivors. However, this change will be complicated, with implications for locked-in pension funds and, potentially, for contributions made or deducted after age 71, which could impact older adults working past 71 hoping to make use of unused contribution room. The government is seeking input on this proposal as well as broader administrative matters relating to RRSPs. Written representations can be sent to the Department of Finance Canada at RRSP-consultation-REER@fin.gc.ca by January 8, 2027 (Budget 2026, p. 394).

Information Sharing with Pension Administrators

Budget 2026 proposes to let the CRA confirm to a registered pension plan administrator that a member has died, closing a gap that has left administrators unable to act on information the federal government already holds. It is a welcome first step on a problem highlighted in the NIA’s December 2024 report, Missing Pension Plan Members in Canada, and would help administrators confirm whether a member they cannot locate has died. At the same time, many missing members are living, and finding them will require further tools, such as a “pension dashboard” for plan members. The NIA looks forward to working with others across the pension sector to find solutions that help Canadians reconnect with the pensions they have earned.

Tax Withholding

Many older adults receive income from sources that are not subject to tax withholding, including OAS, CPP, and minimum withdrawals from Registered Retirement Income Funds (RRIFs). Currently, there is a $3,000 instalment threshold, which means an older adult in Ontario earning $40,000 from these sources would have to pay quarterly tax installments of $750 throughout the year. Budget 2026 proposes increasing the installment threshold to $7,500 which would eliminate the installments and require them to pay a $3,000 tax bill when they file their taxes at the end of the year. This is designed to simplify paperwork, but older adults should be aware that they may be faced with a larger one-time tax bill, rather than smaller installments throughout the year.

3. Health and Housing

Health and Community Care

As announced on October 16, 2026, Budget 2026 reiterates the one-year renewal of $1.2 billion in funding agreements with the provinces and territories for mental health and addictions services, home care, and community care (Budget 2026, p. 211). This extension aims to ensure short-term stability for home and community care delivery, which will help support the majority of older Canadians who have a strong preference to age in their own homes and communities. 

According to the NIA’s 2025 Ageing in Canada Survey, 81% of older adults want to remain in their own home or a smaller home as they age, but 51% are unable to access the home and community care services they need reliably. Meeting this need requires long-term, sustained, predictable funding at all levels of government. 

Housing and Homelessness

Budget 2026 makes several important announcements with respect to housing under two pillars.

Pillar 1: Ending homelessness in 10 years.

The NIA welcomes the commitment for a new 10-year plan to end homelessness. Older adults are one of the fastest growing groups experiencing homelessness in Canada, and the $29 billion investment over ten years enables the plan to have the financial backing it needs to have a real impact. 

This investment includes:

• $4 billion for an Integrated Support Fund for projects that bring together housing with health, mental health, addictions services, and social supports. This is a promising practice that recognizes that housing, health, and social wellbeing are closely intertwined. 
• $10 billion for capital costs of building supportive and transitional housing across Canada, with provincial and territorial partners contributing to ongoing operations and services. While this model has been previously applied in other housing initiatives, provincial and territorial uptake has been inconsistent. 
• $6.5 billion to renew the Reaching Home initiative and the Veterans Homelessness Program for an additional 10 years, which enables program stability but does not close the funding gaps identified by the Parliamentary Budget Officer.
• $5.6 billion to renew the Canada Housing Benefit, which provides direct monthly rental assistance to low-income Canadians. This funding renewal will enable the continuation of this benefit, but will not dramatically extend it’s reach. Currently, the Canada Housing Benefit reaches about 1 in 20 households experiencing core housing need. 

Pillar 2: Expanding non-market housing.

Currently, non-market housing only represents 4% of housing stock in Canada, an amount that has not kept up with Canadians’ housing needs. Budget 2026 proposes to triple the pace of non-market housing starts in Canada to 24,000 each year over the next decade (Budget 2026, p. 201). To achieve this goal, Budget 2026 proposes to provide an additional $13 billion over ten years to boost the capital of Build Canada Homes. The Finance Department estimates the investments will allow Build Canada Homes to add 200,000 new homes across the country in the next decade (Budget 2026, p. 201).

The NIA supports the ten-year objective and implementation models that combine housing with medical and social care to support older adults with complex health needs to enable ageing in place. While the budget provides for the capital costs for physical construction, it requires provinces and territories to contribute the operating costs, which may result in a patchwork implementation. There is an opportunity to provide dedicated funding for community-based seniors services (CBSS), which plays a vital role in delivering the services older Canadians need to age in their homes and communities.