“Wait… My Wife Can Get Social Security Too?”
- Andrea Thompson
- 10 minutes ago
- 4 min read
The morning after the heartbreak of a lifetime, a Game 7 World Series loss for my beloved Blue Jays to the Dodgers, I found myself limping into Pearson Airport, coffee in hand, on my way to a much-needed family vacation. As fate would have it, we ended up in the lounge chatting with a former Blue Jays player from the 1992–1993 championship roster.
What started as easy small talk turned into a full hour of cross-border financial planning. He and his wife were gracious, curious, and wonderfully candid about their situation. When Social Security came up (a real, near-term decision point for them), I mentioned something that stopped them both mid-sentence:
His wife may qualify for U.S. spousal Social Security benefits.
He blinked. “She can what?”
Not only had his advisor never brought this up, they had never discussed any of the cross-border implications that could meaningfully affect their retirement income. And this isn’t an isolated story: it’s something I see all the time. Too many advisors focus only on the assets they manage and ignore the broader picture that actually determines a family’s long-term financial security.
So let’s clear up the confusion and walk through what Spousal Social Security benefits are, how they work for Canadian residents, and the key planning points you absolutely don’t want to miss.
What Are Spousal Social Security Benefits?
Spousal benefits allow a husband, wife, or common-law partner to receive up to 50% of their spouse’s full retirement benefit (known as the PIA — Primary Insurance Amount, typically nowadays at age 67), provided certain conditions are met.
They’re designed to support one-earner or uneven-earner households and ensure the lower-earning spouse doesn’t miss out on retirement income just because they spent more time caregiving, working part-time, or earning less throughout their career.
Key basics:
A spouse can receive up to 50% of the higher earner's benefit at their own full retirement age.
They can claim as early as age 62, but early claiming reduces the amount.
The higher-earning spouse must have filed for their own benefit first before the spouse can claim.
Spousal benefits do not increase past full retirement age (unlike personal benefits, which can grow with delayed credits).
Do These Rules Apply to Canadians Living in Canada?
Yes, in many cases! I've seen it often. And this is where planning gets interesting.
If you worked in the U.S. long enough to be eligible for Social Security (10 years / 40 credits):
Your spouse living in Canada may be eligible for a spousal benefit even if they never lived or worked in the U.S.
If you do not have enough U.S. work credits:
The U.S.–Canada Totalization Agreement may help combine your CPP/QPP contributions with your U.S. credits so you meet the minimum requirements. This doesn’t blend the benefit amounts, it simply helps establish eligibility.
Yes, payments can be made directly to beneficiaries living in Canada.
There’s no requirement to reside in the U.S. to collect. At least at this administrative juncture.
A Few Nuances Canadians Need to Know
1. Currency risk and income stability
Benefits are paid in USD. If most of your spending is in CAD, exchange rate swings will affect your net income.For retirees on fixed income, this matters.
2. Taxation of your Social Security pension is different from CPP/OAS
The U.S. may tax a portion of your Social Security first. Usually, this depends on whether you're a US tax filer or not.
Then, Canada includes 85% of your benefit as taxable income on your Canadian return, with a foreign tax credit to avoid double-taxation.
3. Spousal benefits don’t reduce your spouse’s payment, but you don't get both
Even if your wife or husband claims a spousal benefit, your own benefit remains untouched. However, you can't claim BOTH a spousal benefit and an individual benefit which that same spouse may have accrued on their own. Typically, you'll want to look at a cost benefit analysis to see whether it's better to claim as a spouse, or an individual (which, unlike spousal social security benefits, offer the opportunity to defer the pension until 70 with an annual increase, similar to how CPP works).
4. Survivor benefits need separate planning
A surviving spouse can receive up to 100% of the deceased spouse’s benefit. This often changes the optimal claiming strategy.
5. U.S. and Canadian pensions no longer interact — but differently
There used to be a rule called the Windfall Elimination Provision which potentially reduced a person's social security benefit if they also contributed to a foreign pension (including CPP), but as of January 2025, this has been abolished.
CPP and OAS do not reduce Social Security benefits, but timing them well can improve total after-tax cash flow.
Why Some Advisors Miss This — and Why It Hurts Clients
The Blue Jays alum wasn’t the first (and won’t be the last) person to say:
“Why didn’t my advisor ever tell me this?”
Three patterns show up repeatedly:
1. Some advisors focus only on money they manage
If the advisor doesn’t custody the asset or bill on it, it too often gets ignored.
2. Cross-border planning is specialized
Without training, many advisors simply don’t know the rules — but don’t admit that they don’t know. Is your advisor also a financial planner? What are their skill sets and focus? Clarifying what an advisor can or cannot advise you on, or help you plan for, is imperative when establishing an ongoing relationship. What licences, designations or experience does an advisor have, and does that align with your needs?
3. You don’t know what you don’t know
If nobody raises the topic, there’s no reason for you, the client, to suspect something is missing.
But Social Security is not a small detail — it can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars over a retirement.
Key Takeaways for Clients Living in Canada
If you or your spouse ever worked in the U.S., make sure you check:
Are one or both of you eligible for U.S. Social Security?
Does the Totalization Agreement help qualify one or both of you (if you have fewer than 40 quarters)?
What’s the optimal claiming age for each spouse?
How do tax treaties affect your after-tax income?
How will survivor benefits shape long-term planning?
This should be part of every serious retirement plan involving cross-border work history.
Most importantly, if this all seems above your paygrade, seek out a cross border professional who DOES have acumen in discussing this, and other cross border related subjects.