What is the average retirement income in Canada?

For Canadians aged 65 and over, the median total income was $39,200 a year in 2024 and the average was $55,200 (Statistics Canada, T1 Family File, Table 11-10-0239-01, released April 2026). That is total income before tax for individual tax filers — every source combined. The average sits well above the median because a minority with large pensions, investment or employment income pulls it up; the median is the better picture of a typical retiree. In 2023 the median was $38,500, so it rose +1.8% in a year.

Divide the annual figures by twelve: the median works out to about $3,267 a month before tax and the average to about $4,600. Men aged 65 and over have a median of $3,867 a month and women $2,867. For a floor, the two public pensions alone — the average new CPP retirement pension at 65 ($858.34, July 2026) plus the maximum OAS at 65 to 74 ($762.50, October–December 2026) — come to about $1,620 a month; most retirees add private pensions, RRIF withdrawals or investment income on top.

Among Canadians 65 and over, 91% receive CPP or QPP with a median of $10,000 a year, and 90% receive OAS or GIS with a median of $9,500. Together that is roughly $1,625 a month for a typical recipient. The larger private slice is what StatCan calls retirement income — employer pensions, annuities and RRSP or RRIF withdrawals — received by 63% of seniors with a median of $19,600. Investment income reaches 50% but with a median of only $2,300, and 28% still have employment income.

This table publishes medians and averages, not percentiles, so it cannot say where a given income ranks — and this page will not guess. What it does show: the average ($55,200) is 41% above the median ($39,200), which means a meaningful minority of seniors earn far more than the typical one. A useful yardstick is pre-retirement income: Canadians aged 55 to 64 have a median total income of $53,300, so a retiree at the 65-plus median is living on about 74% of the late-career median. For where your household ranks on wealth rather than income, use the net-worth-by-age percentile tool.

Median total income for people 65 and over in 2024 ranges from $44,600 in Saskatchewan down to $32,500 in New Brunswick. Ontario is $41,500, Alberta $41,800, British Columbia $39,800 and Quebec $36,000. The full table is below.

Before tax. These are total-income figures for individual tax filers from Statistics Canada's T1 Family File, which counts every source before income tax is deducted. Other guides often quote the Canadian Income Survey's after-tax median for seniors, which is lower because tax has come off and the survey is built differently. Neither is wrong; they measure different things. Use the before-tax figures here to compare against your own gross pension and withdrawal income, and remember OAS is clawed back above $93,454 of 2025 net income.