According to a 2024 report from Statistics Canada, one in five seniors aged 65 to 74 works either full-time or part-timeGetty Images
Retirement usually signifies the end of career exploration, but for 73-year-old Toronto-based Helen Fisher, it opened the door to put her skills as a couturier to use. Ms. Fisher had a thriving freelance project-management practice in advertising and photography until 2017. Nearing retirement age, she found herself without a contract lined up. Her nephew, who taught glassblowing at Mississauga’s Living Arts Centre, suggested she try her hand at teaching sewing.
“I didn’t know I had a skill I could teach,” says Ms. Fisher. “Even though I was [trained as] a couturier and a pattern drafter, I hadn’t really used those skills during my career; I hadn’t really sewn all that much professionally. But I went on the interview, got the job, and then had a week to put all these courses together.”
Now, she teaches three classes at Toronto District School Board’s Learn4Life program. Every Monday, she’s up at 7 a.m. and returns home around 10:30 or 11 p.m., and she has no regrets.
Helen Fisher teaching sewing at a studio in Toronto.Supplied
“You know, the money’s nice, but the money doesn’t matter. It is just a joy. To see a student – the light goes on and the smile on their face and the joy when they’ve created something – it just keeps me going back,” says Ms. Fisher, whose husband also continues to work. “They’re laughing and having fun, and I’m part of this in my seventies and being around people that are young and creative. I think it does more for me [than for them].”
Retirement used to be viewed as a rest after a lifetime of work. But as Canadians live longer, healthier lives, more are choosing to take on occasional or part-time work in retirement. According to a 2024 report from Statistics Canada, one in five seniors aged 65 to 74 worked (either full-time or part-time) in 2022.
Julia Chung, an advice-only financial planner based in Vancouver, explains that when Old Age Security (OAS) and Canada Pension Plan (CPP) were created (1952 and 1966, respectively), life expectancy was around 70.
“People would be in what we would call retirement for maybe five or 10 years. Now we’re looking at something closer to 25, 30 years,” she says. (Statistics Canada’s 2024 Health of Canadians report states that life expectancy in Canada is 81.7 years.)
“And we have people with lives,” Ms. Chung adds. “They’re not retiring and then sitting at home because they’re sick; they’re retiring and having a good time. So the costs of retirement are significantly different than what people expected as well.”
Community engagement and extra income
For 68-year-old Ann Dennis, working part-time in retirement offers multiple benefits: supplementary income, flexibility, the opportunity to help her community and “because the brain needs it.”
Ms. Dennis was a public-relations director in the corporate world who moved to contract work later in her career. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she says, her contracts dried up.
“I wasn’t earning an income, and it felt terrible,” says Ms. Dennis, who lives with her husband in Thornhill, Ont. “Then a friend of mine who owns a pharmacy in Richmond Hill started to do COVID vaccinations.” She enjoyed the experience, and her friend ended up training her to be a pharmacy assistant. She now manages the pharmacy’s vaccine program.
“I love being with the patients. They’re fantastic. I love being able to help. I handle the questions so that the rest of the pharmacy can run as it should,” she says. The flexibility also allows Ms. Dennis to support her aging mother. “She doesn’t need full-time care, but she wants to go to Florida in the winter for nine weeks and I can’t have her be alone in all good conscience.”
While it’s not the primary reason she works, Ms. Dennis notes that the extra income she gets from her part-time work is also welcome. “There was no investment strategy” when she and her husband were younger, she says.
“We had two full-time jobs, two kids, daycare, mortgage. For me, hindsight being 20-20, I wish I had been smarter about saving rather than spending as much as I did.”
Watch out for government clawbacks
Ms. Chung says that while working past 65 isn’t for everyone, she can see more people choosing to work in retirement as financial outlooks shift. For example, a sizable portion of the boomer generation is experiencing challenges finding buyers for their homes as they downsize, she says.
There are important factors to keep in mind when working in retirement, she adds. For example, you can continue to contribute to CPP and defer OAS up to age 70 to increase your benefits, but there is no benefit to deferring OAS past 70.
Registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs) must be converted to registered retirement income funds (RRIFs) before the end of the year you turn 71. Even if you are still earning income, Ms. Chung notes, you are required to make mandatory withdrawals from your RRIFs starting at age 72.
“Use it during your lifetime,” says Ms. Chung of RRIFs. “If you don’t have a surviving spouse, it’s not a great estate gift. Think of it as a source of income from which to spend during your lifetime. It is most tax-efficient that way.”
Seniors also need to beware of clawbacks when taking on part-time employment. The C.D. Howe Institute released a report in November, 2025, showing how income-tested government benefits including the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) can be reduced (or clawed back) as personal incomes rise. When combined with income taxes, the impact on take-home pay can be substantial.
A ‘third act’ and beyond
Beyond the financial benefits, Ms. Chung says that from her perspective, the social connection and learning that comes from working can provide immense value for healthy aging.
Ms. Dennis and Ms. Fisher certainly agree. As Ms. Dennis puts it: “The first act was full-time corporate work. My second act was the contracts on and off. My third act is this part-time stuff, but I hope there’ll be a fourth. What it’ll look like, I don’t know.”
Ms. Fisher says that she sees herself continuing to work while she is able.
“To me, it’s fulfilling my life, and I don’t see it ending any time soon.”