Government pressed on its continued refusal to negotiate with Canada over reciprocal pensions agreements
February 6, 2023 Frozen British Pensions 2 Comments
Today, David Linden, SNP MP for Glasgow East, pressed the Minister for Employment on the UK Government’s continued refusal to work with the Canadian government on a reciprocal agreement to cover pensions uprating.
For the fourth time since 2013, requests by the Canadian government to negotiate a reciprocal agreement have been turned down by the British Government. Canada is home to 127,000 overseas British pensioners, the second largest proportion after Australia. This policy is imposing hardship on British citizens who are entitled a full pension, with many pensioners forced to sell their homes or return to work.
Read the full transcript of his intervention here: [Social Security and Pensions Debate – Monday 6 February 2023 – Hansard – UK Parliament]
Stephen McPhie
June 19, 2023 - 10:03 am
I am a dual UK-Canadian citizen living in the UK. I receive a Canadian state pension and that is uprated each year. It should be a source of shame for the UK that this is not reciprocated. Seems that Canada’s government considers this the morally correct thing to do in spite of the UK refusal to negotiate an agreement. There are UK pensioners living in Canada forced onto welfare paid by Canadian taxpayers as their UK pensions have become greatly diminished.
Kate Glancy
June 26, 2023 - 11:19 am
Yes. This needs to be rectified especially as people like me cannot fully gain a British state pension unless I remain in the UK for the rest of my life…it feels like a prison sentence.
Do the opposition have a different opinion on resolving this issue?
For example, I lived in BC for a long time but if I moved back, my UK pension would erode. However, if I were to live in Washington State, just across the Sumas border, I would get the UK uprated pension.
What is the difference between Canada and the USA? The USA revolted against the UK and does not recognise our monarch. It seems that the countries that were part of the British Empire and then within the Commonwealth are the VERY countries in which a British Pension is not uprated! Surely, the reverse should be the case.