Survivor's pension

About this program

To provide financial stability, you will continue to receive your spouse’s disability pension for a full year following their death.

Continuation of Disability Pension

When a disability pensioner dies, you will continue to receive their pension for one full year. If they also received Prisoner of War Compensation, Exceptional Incapacity Allowance or Attendance Allowance you will also receive the full amounts for each of those benefits.

In the following year, you will automatically receive the survivor’s pension.

Survivor’s pension

The amount you receive through a survivor’s pension depends on the assessed level of your spouse’s disability pension. If their pension was assessed at 48 percent or greater, you will receive a full survivor’s pension (see maximum rate in Table B of the disability pension rate table). If their pension was assessed between 5 and 47 percent, your survivor’s pension will be one-half the amount they were receiving.

Do you qualify?

Continuation of Disability Pension

If your spouse’s Disability Pension was 5% or more, you will continue to receive your spouse’s disability pension for one year as well as any amounts they received through:

• Prisoner of War compensation,
• Attendance Allowance, and
• Exceptional Incapacity Allowance.

Survivor’s pension

If you receive the continuation of their disability pension, after one year you will automatically receive a survivor’s pension.

If the Veteran had a disability assessment of 5% or less, they were paid that as a lump-sum. As a result, it is not possible to provide any amount to their survivor. However, if you believe that your spouse had a disability related to their military service that would have exceeded the 5% assessment, you can make a posthumous claim for a disability benefit.

How to apply

There is no application form for this program.

If you qualify, you will continue to receive your spouse’s pension for one year. After that, you will begin receiving the survivor's pension automatically.

Contact us if you believe that you are eligible for this benefit but are not receiving it.

Additional information

Find out more

You will continue to receive your survivor’s pension if you remarry.

You could still qualify for the survivor’s pension if you were separated but your spouse was paying:

• alimony,
• maintenance
• support, or
• an allowance

Related programs

VIP for primary caregivers - Payment for yard and housekeeping services to help you stay in your home.

Exceptional Incapacity Allowance - Monthly payments if your illness or injury impacts your quality of life.

Attendance Allowance - Monthly payments if your health needs require personal care support.

Educational Assistance for children - Payments for military children to cover the cost of tuition and other expenses.

Frequently asked questions

What do I do if my survivor’s pension is not automatically paid after the waiting-period?

If you do not receive your survivor’s pension after the one-year continuation of the Veteran’s disability pension, please contact us right away.

Where can I find the policies for this program?

Read more about the policies related to a survivor’s pension.