What is the current, official list of countries with which Canada has social security agreements and each agreement's entry-into-force date?

Checked on February 4, 2026
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Executive summary

Canada’s official, current roster of international social security agreements is published and maintained by the Government of Canada (Canada Revenue Agency and Employment and Social Development Canada) and as an open dataset; that government list contains more than 50 partner countries and specific entry‑into‑force dates for each agreement [1] [2]. This reporting confirms key examples—China (entry into force January 1, 2017), France (August 1, 2017), the United States (August 1, 1984) and Chile (June 1, 1998)—but the authoritative, complete table is the government’s online resource, which must be consulted for the full, current listing [3] [4] [5] [6].

1. Why the user’s question matters and what the official source is

The user is asking for an authoritative roster of which national governments Canada has reciprocal social security agreements with and the legal date each agreement took effect; those definitive data are published by federal authorities — primarily the Canada Revenue Agency and Employment and Social Development Canada — on the Government of Canada website and in an Open Government dataset that lists partner countries and the dates their agreements came into force [1] [2].

2. What the government says about the program and scope

Canada’s international social security agreements are intended to coordinate public pension coverage, to prevent double contributions and to allow periods of work in two countries to be combined to meet pension eligibility; the government states it has agreements with “more than 50” countries and that, historically, Canada has signed dozens of agreements (59 signed, 58 in force as of January 1, 2017, per the government’s own summary) [7] [3] [8].

3. Confirmed entries and entry‑into‑force dates found in the public record

Several entry‑into‑force dates are explicitly documented by federal publications and proclamations: the Agreement with China entered into force January 1, 2017 (Employment and Social Development Canada announcement) [3]; the Canada–France Agreement entered into force August 1, 2017 as noted in the government proclamation and accompanying implementing agreement [4] [9]; the Canada–United States Agreement came into force August 1, 1984 (text and summaries on the U.S. Social Security Administration and Canada pages) [5] [10]; and the Canada–Chile Agreement was proclaimed to come into force June 1, 1998 (Department of Justice proclamation) [6]. These are representative examples drawn from the official record [3] [4] [5] [6].

4. Signed vs. in‑force: why dates can vary and how to verify each country

Treaties and reciprocal agreements are often signed on one date and enter into force later, after each party completes internal ratification; government treaty pages and Orders in Council or proclamations record the legally effective date (for example, signatures are recorded for the Netherlands agreement (signed 27 June 2001) though the treaty text and government database are the place to confirm its entry into force) [11]. To obtain the current, legally operative entry date for any specific partner country, the official Canada.ca table or the Open Government dataset is the authoritative reference [1] [2].

5. Practical next step and caveats in the public reporting

The complete, up‑to‑date list of partner countries and entry‑into‑force dates is available on the Government of Canada’s pages and the corresponding Open Government data resource — those are the primary, official sources to cite for any administrative, legal or benefits determination [1] [2]. Public summaries repeatedly note that the agreements cover CPP/OAS coordination (with some agreements limited to coverage coordination only) and that the number of agreements can change as new agreements are signed or brought into force; this underscores the need to consult the government dataset for the single, current list rather than relying on partial press mentions [7] [8].

Want to dive deeper?
Where can the full Canada.ca table of social security agreement countries and entry‑into‑force dates be downloaded as a machine‑readable dataset?
Which Canada social security agreements are limited to coordination of coverage only (not pension qualification) and what countries do those limitations apply to?
How have Canada’s social security agreements evolved over time in number and geographic coverage since 1980?