A by-the-numbers look at foreign pensioners in Canada, and payments abroad

OTTAWA – British pensioners living in Canada are lobbying the Liberal government to make indexing their pensions to the cost of living a requirement for any future free trade deal with Britain — an agreement that would have to be negotiated as a result of Brexit. Here’s a by-the-numbers look at foreign pensions inside Canada, and payments abroad:

1.24 million: British pensioners living outside the U.K. and receiving benefits.

560,000: British pensioners living outside the U.K. in countries where their pensions are not indexed.

150,000: The number of those frozen pensioners living in Canada.

500 million: What the U.K. government estimates annual cost-of-living increases to those retirees with frozen pensions would cost in British pounds.

$865 million: Approximately how much the increases would cost the British government in Canadian dollars.

$544 million: Foreign pensions paid into Canada on an annual basis

200,000: Foreign pensioners in receipt of that money (as of 2012)

$169 million: OAS and CPP benefits paid to people living outside of Canada in 2015

$41 million: OAS and CPP benefits paid to 19,507 people living inside of Canada as a result of reciprocal social security agreements

$50 million: Estimated amount Canadian companies save annually through those agreements that exempt them from paying higher contribution rates for foreign pension schemes

(Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, U.K. House of Commons Library)