Every CPP timing article on the internet eventually says “it depends.” It does — but it depends on a small number of specific things, and the arithmetic underneath them is not complicated. Here it is, using the 2026 maximum pension (full amounts here):
| Start age | Monthly maximum | Versus 65 |
|---|---|---|
| 60 | $964.90 | 36% less, forever |
| 65 | $1,507.65 | The baseline |
| 70 | $2,140.86 | 42% more, forever |
Your own pension scales the same way whatever its size, because the adjustment is a percentage of your amount, not of the maximum.
The two break-even ages
Start at 60 and you collect five extra years of smaller cheques. Start at 65 and each cheque is bigger, but you begin five years behind. The bigger cheques catch up — the crossover, in total dollars received, lands at about age 74. Live beyond 74 and having waited to 65 was the better deal; the gap keeps widening every year after.
The same math between 65 and 70: give up five years of payments, gain 42% on every cheque after. The crossover lands at about age 82. These are nominal, before-tax figures, and they barely move in real terms because CPP is indexed to inflation at every start age. Now set them against one more number: a Canadian who reaches 65 will, on average, live into their mid-80s — meaning the average 65-year-old lives past both break-evens. That is the entire case for waiting, in one sentence.
What the math leaves out
Need beats math. If starting at 60 is what keeps the roof repaired and the groceries bought, that is the right answer for you, full stop.
Health and family history are real data. The break-evens assume an average lifespan. Your own information is better than the average.
Low income cuts the other way. CPP counts as income for the Guaranteed Income Supplement, which claws back roughly 50 cents per dollar. For someone who will rely on GIS, a bigger CPP at 70 mostly replaces GIS rather than adding to income — and taking CPP at 60 can genuinely come out ahead. This is the most commonly missed wrinkle in the whole debate.
Tax and the OAS clawback. A larger CPP is also larger taxable income, and from 65 it stacks into the income measured by the OAS recovery tax. Bridging 65 to 70 on savings and RRSP withdrawals, then taking both pensions at their maximums, is a legitimate strategy — and a genuinely personal one. This page can show you the arithmetic; the decision deserves your full picture, or an hour with a fee-only planner.