RRQ (QPP): should you claim it at 60, 65 or 70?

Claiming your RRQ pension is one of the rare retirement decisions you make only once and that stays with you for the rest of your life. The Régime de rentes du Québec (RRQ, Quebec’s public pension plan — the equivalent of the CPP) pays a pension from age 60, in full at 65, and increased if you wait. The gap between the extremes isn’t small: the same person can receive a pension that’s much lower or much higher depending on the age at which they claim it. Here’s how the amount changes, and how to decide in the context of your plan as a whole.

How the amount changes with age

The normal age to receive the RRQ pension is 65: at that age, you receive 100% of the amount provided for. Before and after, two opposite adjustments apply.

Before 65 — the reduction. If you claim your pension before 65, it decreases by 0.5 to 0.6% for each month of early claiming, permanently. The exact rate depends on the size of your pension: the higher it is, the closer the factor gets to 0.6%. Concretely, claiming at 60 — that is, 60 months before the normal age — gives a pension that’s 30 to 36% lower than the one you would have received at 65. And that reduction never disappears.

After 65 — the increase. If you wait, the pension climbs by 0.7% for each month spent after 65, up to a maximum of 58.8% at age 72. Deferral past 70 is a new feature worth knowing about: you can now increase the pension up to age 72. After 72, the amount stops rising — so there’s no advantage to waiting any longer.

The factors that lean toward “early”

Claiming early isn’t always the wrong reflex. Several situations justify it:

• A shorter life expectancy. If your health or family history points to a shorter retirement, collecting the pension over more years can outweigh a higher annual amount you wouldn’t receive for as long.
• A need for cash early in retirement. If your other income is low between 60 and 65, the RRQ pension fills a dip — and sometimes avoids drawing down an RRSP at the worst moment.
• Little other taxable income. When your overall income is low, the pension lands in low tax brackets: you keep a larger share of it.

Working past 60 doesn't force you to defer the RRQ — and can even add a supplement

The factors that lean toward “late”

Conversely, waiting rewards above all:

• Longevity. The longer you live, the more the increased pension pays off. For someone in good health, deferral to 70 or 72 is often the most rewarding option over the whole of retirement.
• High taxable income early in retirement. If you already have good income from 60 to 65 — an employer plan, planned withdrawals — adding the RRQ on top stacks it into higher tax brackets. Waiting lets the pension grow while you draw elsewhere.
• Surviving-spouse protection. A higher pension can improve the benefit paid to a spouse, depending on the situation.

The tax angle: the RRQ stacks on top of the rest

The RRQ pension is fully taxable. It doesn’t stand alone: it adds to your other income for the year and is taxed at your marginal rate. In Quebec, the combined federal-provincial tax rises in brackets, and a retiree already receiving an employer pension, RRIF withdrawals, and the OAS can see the RRQ pushed into a higher bracket.

There’s one more effect to watch: the Old Age Security pension (OAS) is clawed back through tax — the “recovery” — above a certain net income. A higher RRQ pension can therefore cause you to lose part of the OAS. This kind of interaction doesn’t show up if you look at the RRQ in isolation; it only appears in a projection that adds up all sources, year by year, after Quebec tax.

The RRIF minimum withdrawal at 71, which stacks on top of the RRQ and OAS

Deciding in the context of your whole plan

The question “60, 65 or 70?” has no universal answer, because it depends on variables that are specific to you: your life expectancy, your other income at each age, your tax situation and, if you’re in the public sector, the mechanics of your employer plan. An important point for members of RREGOP and related plans: deferring the RRQ to increase it does not move the coordination of your employer pension, which happens at 65 no matter what. The two decisions must be looked at together.

The right way to decide isn’t a rule of thumb, but a comparison: for your situation, what does net income look like, year by year, depending on whether you claim the RRQ at 60, 65 or 70? It’s by overlaying these scenarios that you see which one holds up best — over the whole length of retirement, and not just the first year.

Frequently asked questions

Before you set your claim age

• Estimate your life expectancy honestly — it’s the variable that weighs most in the calculation.
• Look at your other income at each age, from 60 to 72, not an average.
• Account for Quebec tax and the OAS recovery: the RRQ stacks on top of the rest.
• If you’re in the public sector, coordinate this choice with the mechanics of your plan at 65.