One of the biggest questions before you leave is what happens to your government benefits. Do you still get them? How much? When should you start taking them? Here’s what Canadians actually need to know.
Canadian CPP: The Basics
Service Canada doesn’t care where you live. You can collect CPP from pretty much anywhere in the world. It can be deposited into a Canadian account or sent internationally.
What you get depends on two things: how much you paid in, and when you start. Take it at sixty and you get less, up to about thirty-six percent less than your age sixty-five amount. Sixty-five is your baseline. Wait until seventy and you get roughly forty-two percent more than the sixty-five amount.
Waiting increases your monthly payment. Starting early locks you into a smaller cheque for life. For someone in their early fifties with a modest contribution history, waiting until seventy gives you the biggest monthly number. But the trade-off is time. You have to live long enough for that higher payment to actually pay off. If you’re in decent health, waiting can make sense. If not, taking it earlier might. There’s no one-size answer, and anyone who tells you there is is full of shit.
The Canada-Albania Social Security Agreement
This is worth knowing because it’s actually good news. Canada and Albania signed a Social Security Agreement in 2022. What that means practically is that you won’t lose your entitlement to OAS or CPP just because you moved. The agreement allows what’s called totalization, meaning years lived and worked in Albania can count toward the twenty-year residency requirement for receiving OAS outside of Canada. If your contribution history is thin or your years in Canada fall short of certain thresholds, this agreement protects you. Verify the current details with Service Canada before you leave, but the short version is: moving to Albania doesn’t mean losing what you’ve built.
The Residency Income Floor
Here’s something a lot of articles skip over. Albania’s Type D residency visa for retirees and long-term residents requires proof of at least 1,200,000 ALL per year in pension income. In 2026 that works out to roughly CA$1,460 per month. If your CPP and OAS combined don’t hit that number, you may be denied residency regardless of how well you can actually live on what you have. This doesn’t mean you can’t move to Albania. It means you need to know your number before you apply and plan accordingly if you’re short. Remote income, savings, or other pension sources can potentially be used to bridge the gap but get proper advice on what counts before you count on it.
CPP-D: Disability
If you can’t work due to a serious medical condition, CPP-D exists. It pays less than regular CPP, and the exact amount depends on your contributions. There’s a base amount plus a variable portion. To qualify, you need to have contributed enough and have a severe and prolonged disability confirmed by a doctor.
The part people miss is this: CPP-D stops at sixty-five. At that point it automatically converts into regular CPP retirement benefits, usually at a lower amount than if you had delayed to seventy. So it’s not a long-term strategy. It’s a bridge.
If you’re thinking about applying, do it before you leave Canada. The process takes time and relies heavily on Canadian medical documentation. Trying to sort that out from another country is a pain in the ass. Once you’re approved though, you can receive it while living abroad.
Non-Resident Taxation
Canada and Albania do not have a bilateral income tax treaty. That means the standard 25% non-resident withholding rate applies to CPP and OAS payments once you become a non-resident, rather than the reduced 15% rate treaty countries often receive. Canada’s foreign tax credit system can help offset this if you’re paying tax in Albania, but the math is more manual than a treaty arrangement. See an accountant who understands both Canadian and Albanian tax law before you leave. For more on how this plays out, read Taxes When You Leave.
The Strategy
If you’re in your fifties and planning to move to Albania, the smartest move is not to rely on CPP as your main income. Let it sit. Build something else first, remote work, online income, whatever you can realistically maintain. If you can cover your life without touching CPP, letting it grow until seventy turns it into much stronger backup later. At that point it’s not survival money. It’s breathing room.
But that only works if you’ve already figured out how to support yourself. If you haven’t, you’ve got a bigger problem to solve first.
Before You Leave
Call Service Canada before you go. Let them know you’re leaving. Make sure your payments, contact information, and tax status are all current. Set up online access for everything so you’re not stuck trying to fix problems from another country. Also set up Wise before you leave. It’s how you’ll move money from your Canadian account to Albania cheaply once you’re there.
One thing to sort before you go is health coverage. OHIP lapses after 153 days out of Ontario and Albanian public healthcare won’t cover you the way you’re used to. SafetyWing is worth looking at, it’s a monthly subscription with no long-term commitment that covers emergencies and evacuation. Read our full review here. If CPP-D is on your radar, get your paperwork together early and apply before you leave.
Then run the actual numbers. What are you getting after tax? What do you need to live? Does it clear the Albanian residency income floor? What’s the gap? Because that gap is your real plan.
The Honest Version
CPP and OAS are backup plans, not your main plan. If you’re leaving because life doesn’t work financially where you are, you need to make it work somewhere else first. Build something that supports you. Then let CPP come in later as support, not as the thing you’re depending on to survive. That’s how you make this work instead of just hoping it does.
A Note on Accuracy
The figures, rates, and regulations in this article reflect our best research at the time of writing. Exchange rates, rental prices, visa requirements, and tax laws change. Verify current numbers at primary sources before making any decisions. For exchange rates use xe.com, for cost of living use Numbeo.com, and for visa and residency rules check the official Albanian e-Albania portal and Service Canada directly.