CPP pension sharing with your spouse
Spouses who are both at least 60 and living together can ask Service Canada to share the CPP earned while they lived together. The couple's total does not change; who is paid does, which can cut your income tax and the OAS clawback. Apply online or with form ISP1002.
Below: exactly who qualifies, how Service Canada works out the shareable portion, a worked example with the tax effect in Ontario, how to apply, when sharing ends, and the difference between sharing, the CRA's pension income splitting, and credit splitting after a divorce.
Sharing, splitting and credit splitting are three different things
| CPP pension sharing | Pension income splitting | CPP credit splitting | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who runs it | Service Canada | Canada Revenue Agency | Service Canada |
| For whom | Couples living together, both 60+ | Couples, on the tax return | Separated or divorced couples |
| What moves | The CPP actually paid, up to an equal share of the portion earned together | Up to 50% of eligible private pension income, on paper | The CPP contributions made during the relationship, permanently |
| CPP and OAS? | CPP yes; OAS no | Neither; CPP and OAS are never eligible | CPP contributions only |
| Form | ISP1002 (or My Service Canada Account) | T1032, each year | ISP1901 |
| Reversible | Yes (ISP1014, both sign) | Chosen fresh every year | No |
Sources: Service Canada, pension sharing and credit splitting pages; CRA, pension income splitting. Verified October 22, 2026.
Who qualifies
Service Canada's conditions are short. You must:
- be living with your legal spouse or common-law partner. A common-law partner is someone who has lived with you in a conjugal relationship for at least one year. Couples who are voluntarily separated when they apply are not approved;
- have at least one of you receiving, or having applied for, a CPP retirement pension. Because a retirement pension cannot begin before 60, both of you must be at least 60; and
- if only one of you ever contributed to the CPP or QPP, that is fine: the one pension can be shared.
Quebec residents: the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) replaces CPP with similar but not identical rules and amounts; see Retraite Québec. Provincial tax here uses Quebec's 2026 brackets and the federal abatement.
How much can be shared: the joint contributory period
The shareable portion is based on the number of months you lived together during your joint contributory period, the span of years in which either of you could have contributed to the CPP or QPP. That fraction of each pension goes into a pool that is divided equally; the rest stays with the spouse who earned it. The post-retirement benefit (extra CPP earned by working after your pension started) cannot be shared.
| Monthly CPP | Spouse A | Spouse B | Couple |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before sharing | $1,200.00 | $400.00 | $1,600.00 |
| Together for all of the period | $800.00 | $800.00 | $1,600.00 |
| Together for three-quarters of it | $900.00 | $700.00 | $1,600.00 |
| Together for half of it | $1,000.00 | $600.00 | $1,600.00 |
RetireSmarter illustration of Service Canada's rule: at three-quarters, $900 of A's pension and $300 of B's are pooled and split $600 each; A keeps the unshared $300 and B keeps the unshared $100. Service Canada does the month count from your records.
What it does to your tax: a worked example
Spouse A is 67, receives $1,200.00 a month of CPP, full OAS and $48,000 a year of other taxable income. Spouse B is 65, receives $400.00 a month of CPP, full OAS and $9,000 of other income. They live in Ontario and lived together for the whole contributory period.
| Before sharing | After sharing | |
|---|---|---|
| Spouse A, CPP per month | $1,200.00 | $800.00 |
| Spouse B, CPP per month | $400.00 | $800.00 |
| Income tax, both spouses, a year | $12,468 | $11,443 |
| OAS recovery tax, a year | $0 | $0 |
| The couple keeps, per year | $1,025 more with sharing | |
RetireSmarter calculation with the 2026 federal and Ontario brackets, basic personal and age amounts, and the OAS recovery tax ($93,454 threshold, 2025 income year). $400.00 a month of CPP moves from A to B; the couple's CPP is unchanged at $1,600.00. Change the numbers in the CPP sharing calculator.
The saving comes from two places. Income moves from a spouse taxed in a higher bracket to one taxed in a lower bracket, and because the OAS recovery tax is assessed on each person's own net income, sharing can pull a higher earner back under the line. The same logic, with every account and both CPP and workplace pensions, is in our OAS clawback for couples guide.
Two cases where sharing can cost you. If the lower-income spouse receives the Guaranteed Income Supplement, the extra CPP counts as income and can reduce it. And if both of you are already in the same bracket and under the clawback line, there is nothing to gain; the calculator will show a saving of zero.
How to apply
- Either of you applies. Online: sign in to My Service Canada Account and complete the CPP Pension Sharing form. On paper: form ISP1002, Application for CPP Pension Sharing of Retirement Pension(s), mailed or dropped at a Service Canada office, with both Social Insurance Numbers on every document.
- If you are applying for your retirement pension at the same time, you can ask for sharing on that application.
- Sharing starts as soon as Service Canada approves it and cannot be backdated, so the sooner the better once you both qualify.
When sharing ends
Sharing stops in whichever of these months comes first:
- the month after Service Canada approves a cancellation request signed by both of you (form ISP1014);
- the month you divorce;
- the month the spouse who had never paid into the CPP or QPP starts contributing;
- the month one of you dies; or
- the 12th month after you start living separate and apart (for shared CPP and QPP pensions, the month of a legal separation if earlier).
When sharing ends, each pension is adjusted back to the amount the person earned. The survivor of a shared arrangement may then qualify for the CPP survivor's pension, which is capped together with their own retirement pension at $1,531.56 a month in 2026.
See your own numbers
Both pensions, ages, other income and the years together. The tax and clawback effect is calculated in your browser.
Frequently asked questions
Can I share my CPP with my spouse?
Yes, if you live together and at least one of you is receiving or has applied for a CPP retirement pension. Both of you must be at least 60, because sharing applies to retirement pensions and a retirement pension cannot start before 60. A common-law partner qualifies after one year of living together. Couples who are voluntarily separated when they apply are refused.
Does CPP sharing reduce the total we receive?
No. Service Canada states that the combined total of the two pensions stays the same whether you share or not. Sharing changes who is paid and who reports the income, nothing else.
Is there a CPP splitting calculator?
Yes. Our CPP sharing calculator takes both pensions, your ages, other income and the share of your contributory years you lived together, and shows who is paid what after sharing plus the income tax and OAS clawback saved, using the 2026 brackets. "CPP splitting" usually means the same thing as sharing; the CRA's pension income splitting is a different election that cannot be applied to CPP.
What if only one of us paid into CPP?
You can still share. Service Canada says that if only one of you contributed to the CPP or QPP, that one pension can be shared, so the spouse who never contributed receives part of it.
How is the shared amount calculated?
Service Canada counts the months you lived together during your joint contributory period, the years in which either of you could have contributed, and shares that proportion of each pension. Lived together for the whole period: both pensions are pooled and split equally. Lived together for half of it: half of each pension is pooled and the other half stays with the person who earned it. The post-retirement benefit is never shared.
Is the shared CPP taxable to the person who receives it?
Yes. Each spouse reports the CPP actually paid to them on their own T4A(P) slip. That is the point of sharing: income moves from the spouse in the higher bracket to the one in the lower bracket, and each spouse's OAS recovery tax is calculated on their own net income.
Can we cancel CPP sharing?
Yes. Both of you sign a Cancellation of Pension Sharing form (ISP1014). Sharing then ends the month after Service Canada approves it, and each pension returns to the amount the person earned. It also ends automatically on divorce, on death, the month a spouse who never contributed starts contributing, or the 12th month after you begin living separate and apart.
What happens to shared CPP when one spouse dies?
Sharing ends in the month of death. The survivor's own pension goes back to the amount they earned, and they may qualify for a CPP survivor's pension on top, subject to the combined maximum. Our CPP survivor's pension guide and the couples planner's survivor scenario show the effect on household income.
Does CPP sharing affect the Guaranteed Income Supplement?
It can. GIS is tested on each person's income other than OAS, so moving CPP to a lower-income spouse who receives GIS raises their counted income and can reduce the supplement. Run the numbers before applying if either of you receives GIS.
Is pension sharing the same as credit splitting after a divorce?
No. Credit splitting (a "division of unadjusted pensionable earnings") divides the CPP contributions you each made during the relationship after a separation or divorce, and it is permanent. Pension sharing is for couples who are still together and can be cancelled. Quebec Pension Plan contributors use Retraite Québec's equivalents.
Sources
- Service Canada, Canada Pension Plan: pension sharing, page updated June 18, 2025; read October 22, 2026.
- Service Canada, Divorced or separated: splitting Canada Pension Plan credits, read October 22, 2026.
- Canada Revenue Agency, pension income splitting, page updated January 20, 2026; read October 22, 2026.
- Service Canada, CPP payment amounts 2026 and OAS recovery tax.
General information, not tax or financial advice. The worked example is a RetireSmarter calculation with the 2026 brackets; your own result depends on every source of income, your province and your benefits.
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