Hi guys. I’m out of my depth but my parents refuse professional help.

My dad(69) just retired after working for the provincial government for 20 years. My parents are still married and have no intention of separating even though things aren’t good between them.

My mom(60) hasn’t worked since she started having kids and is entirely dependent on my dad. Ever since my dad retired, he’s been very shady about his financials and my mom is justifiably terrified and worried about her financial security. She’s mostly been surviving off my child tax thing but won’t have that for much longer. She might have maximum, 10k saved with no other assets and no more “allowance” from my dad.

My dad keeps insisting he’s only getting $1500/mo after tax from manulife?? (via his job), but that sounds ridiculous. How can you work 20 years for the government and they give you that little to survive on?? I have been helping out with rent since summer began but when school returns, we can’t live like this anymore

I honestly don’t get how pensions work. What’s the difference between CPP, OAS, GIS and the pension my dad gets from his job via manulife/canadalife?? Can he get all 4 so he has more than 1500$ to survive on?

As far as I can tell, he’s eligible for cpp, oas and gis, but since my mom no longer has any access to the bank, she can’t be sure if he’s getting any deposits from those sources.

I’ve also read about the GIS allowance for spouses under 65 which my mom would be eligible for, but I think my dad already applied for it on her behalf and is pocketing it. He forged her signature on tax stuff in the past.

If he’s telling the truth that he only gets $1500, I need to help them apply for cpp, oas and gis right?

Edit: I can’t thank you all enough. I have gotten a lot more information and help than I ever expected. Thank you so much.

With all your help and direction, I discovered an option to share/split your CPP with your spouse. I will present this to them as a possible solution and hopefully my dad is reasonable enough to sign the forms. My dad can keep his $1500 and OAS to himself, split the cpp and when my mom is old enough, she can get get her oas and child rearing cpp. At the moment, I think their “income” is too high to qualify for gis.

It’s still a sh*t show, but I feel much better.

Please let me know if I am mistaken about any of this and if it is not a viable solution