Grandparent Pension and Raising a Grandchild in BC

The Short Answer: Your Pension Is Safe

If you are a retired grandparent in British Columbia raising a grandchild on OAS, GIS, or CPP, the child-related payments you can claim will not reduce your pension. This is the single most important fact that government websites fail to state clearly, and it stops many grandparents from applying.

Here is why. The Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) is income-tested — when your income goes up, your GIS can go down. But the CRA specifically excludes the following from your income calculations:

• Canada Child Benefit (CCB): Tax-free, excluded from Adjusted Family Net Income
• BC Family Benefit (BCFB): Tax-free, excluded from income calculations
• Extended Family Program maintenance: Tax-exempt under ITA Section 81(1)(h), excluded from net income
• Child Disability Benefit: Tax-free CCB add-on, excluded from income

None of these payments appear on your tax return. None of them count toward the income thresholds that trigger GIS reductions or OAS clawbacks. Your pension stays exactly where it was.

How Much You Can Stack

Using the July 2025 to June 2026 CRA benefit rates, a grandparent raising a 7-year-old grandchild under an EFP agreement in British Columbia can receive:

• EFP maintenance: $1,549.20/month (tax-exempt)
• Canada Child Benefit: Up to $562.33/month (tax-free)
• BC Family Benefit: Up to $145.83/month, plus $41.66 if single (tax-free)

That is over $2,250 per month in child-related payments on top of whatever CPP, OAS, and GIS you already receive. And because all of it is either tax-exempt or tax-free, not a dollar of it counts against your pension.

Even without an EFP agreement — if you are caring informally — the CCB and BCFB alone can deliver over $700 per month, tax-free, without affecting your retirement income.

The CPP Orphan's Benefit

If the child's parent has died and was a CPP contributor, the child may also be eligible for the CPP Orphan's Benefit — a flat-rate monthly payment from Service Canada. This benefit is taxable in the child's name; the tax payable depends on the child's total income and may be nil if the child has little other income. Under provincial rules, the CPP Orphan's Benefit is exempt income for BCEA and legacy CIHR purposes, so it does not reduce those benefits.

Why Filing Your Tax Return Matters

The CRA calculates your CCB and BCFB using your Adjusted Family Net Income from the previous year's tax return. If you do not file, your payments stop. File every year, even if your only income is OAS and CPP. Your spouse or common-law partner must file too.

For a worksheet that maps every available payment against your current pension income — and confirms none of it triggers a clawback — the BC kinship financial help guide includes a pension-safe benefit calculator alongside the full application process.

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