Retiring in Saint-Pierre and Miquelon: Pensions, Taxation and Access to Healthcare

Saint-Pierre and Miquelon is an overseas collectivity of the Republic: a retiree of French nationality needs neither a visa nor a residence permit. The prefecture’s “procedures for foreigners” pages are aimed at foreign nationals, notably family members of French citizens (foreign spouse), who make an appointment with the regulations department (05 08 41 10 10).

The journey most often goes through a Canadian airport: according to the government of Canada, a French citizen in transit needs an electronic travel authorisation, from which French citizens living in the archipelago who travel directly to Canada are exempt. Direct flights to Paris are seasonal (about a dozen in summer). The page on living in Saint-Pierre and Miquelon details the settling-in formalities.

The CPS manages the archipelago’s old-age and invalidity branch. The scheme is close to the mainland one and is gradually aligning with it (ordinance of 23 July 2015, Article 90 of the Social Security Financing Act for 2024). The general conditions are a statutory age of 62 for generations born from 1962 and at least one quarter of insurance in the local scheme. The number of quarters for a full pension is 164 (1962 generation), 166 (1963), 167 (1964), 168 (1965), 169 (1966), 170 (1967 to 1969), 171 (1970 to 1972) and 172 (1973). Phased retirement is possible from age 60, and early retirement exists for long careers and disability.

The pension is calculated as follows: average annual income of the best 25 years, multiplied by a pension rate (50% at the full rate), by the length of insurance at the CPS and divided by the statutory length, then by twelve. The reduction is 0.625% per missing quarter (2.5% a year, at most 37.50%), the increase 1.25% per quarter contributed beyond the full rate. A 10% increase applies to parents of three children raised for nine years. The gross basic pension cannot exceed 50% of the social security ceiling, i.e. around €1,960 a month (amount revised each year); the minimum contributory pension is around €750 a month.

For private-sector employees, the Agirc-Arrco supplementary pension is added, with a point value revised each year; it is paid without reduction at the full-rate age of the local basic pension if at least 50% of the activity was validated in Saint-Pierre and Miquelon. For those who did not work on site, most of the pension remains that of the home scheme. The self-employed come under the CPS for the basic pension and the URSSAF Île-de-France for the supplementary one.

Revaluations follow the price index on ministerial decision. For the minimum contributory pension, the CLEISS (the French centre for international social security links) specifies that the total of basic and supplementary pensions, private and public, must not exceed €1,394.86 a month.

A retiree of a French scheme continues to receive their pension: the fund (CNAV, the national old-age insurance fund, for the general scheme, the State pensions service for civil service pensions) is informed of the transfer of residence before departure. For State civil service pensions, the CLEISS states that the pensions service (DSFIPE, Nantes) pays the pension as long as residence is abroad and that the transfer of residence must be notified to the pension management centre before departure. The decree of 10 May 2011 organises the totalisation of insurance periods between mainland France and the CPS: each institution determines pension entitlement under its own legislation, then reduces the benefit pro rata to the length of insurance completed under its scheme. The pension application is made to the institution of the place of residence, which forwards it to the other territory, keeping the filing date.

The local survivor’s pension is at most 54% of the deceased’s pension, for a surviving spouse aged at least 55, married for at least two years before the death (unless a child was born of the marriage), subject to resource ceilings revised each year. The widowhood allowance, intended for spouses under 55, reaches €695.85 a month at most for two years. The guide to retiring abroad presents the general rules for transferring a pension.

The convention concluded on 30 May 1988 between the State and the Territorial Collectivity, in force since 30 December 1988, provides that pensions and similar remuneration paid to a resident of a territory in respect of former employment are taxable only in that territory (Article 17). A retiree who sets their tax residence in the archipelago therefore declares their pension to the tax department, under the local tax code, whose progressive income tax has 12 brackets against 5 in mainland France, with no CSG or CRDS (French social levies). The State pensions service also classes Saint-Pierre and Miquelon among the territories with local taxation.

A few benchmarks from the tax department: for a move during the year, separate returns for the period before arrival (in mainland France) and from the day of settlement to 31 December (to the local department); property income from mainland France taxable in mainland France but taken into account for the effective rate; paper return by 31 March and online until 30 April; monthly payment to be requested before 1 November. Retirees declare on average more than €22,000 a year and account for nearly 23% of income recipients, according to the IEDOM (the overseas issuing institute). An individual consultation with the local department clarifies each person’s situation.

The coordination agreement of 10 May 2011 provides for coverage of care received in the archipelago by retirees of the schemes of mainland France, the overseas departments, Saint-Barthélemy or Saint-Martin, whatever their nationality, with the exception of holders of a military pension. The retiree registers with the CPS with form SE 975-07, part A of which is completed by their pension fund and part B by the CPS; their dependants who usually live with them register at the same time. Benefits in kind are provided by the CPS, at the expense of the scheme paying the pension.

If tax residence is no longer in France, no CSG, CRDS or Casa is due on the pension. A health insurance contribution is still withheld if the retiree remains attached to a French scheme, notably for their stays in France: 3.2% on the basic pension, 4.2% on the supplementary pension, 7.1% for self-employed workers’ pensions. For a temporary stay in mainland France, reimbursement falls first to the fund linked to the scheme that pays the pension; for a hospitalisation of more than a month, prior medical agreement is required, and the spouse who accompanies the retiree is not covered by this scheme. The details by situation are in the page on healthcare reimbursement, and the guide to a retiree’s health insurance abroad complements the general rules.

Specialised needs fall to medical evacuations to Canada or mainland France (more than 1,000 a year), organised by the CPS, and to the local hospital pathway. The CPS funds aid specific to retirees: an annual heating allowance, personalised action plans (home help, meal delivery, chiropody, home cleaning) and technical aids to make the home safe. An assistance and repatriation contract additionally covers private trips outside the archipelago.

Prices exceed those of mainland France: +70.1% for food and +42.8% for restaurants and hotels in Insee’s survey, with moderate inflation. Rents are rising and rentals are rare (about a fifth of main homes); nearly 75% of households are owners. The cold, damp climate (+5.3 °C annual average, frequent winds) means including energy and maintenance in the budget. Retirees declare on average more than €22,000 of annual income, and the share of over-65s reaches nearly 19% of the population.

As for services, the hospital centre takes in older people in a 35-place long-term care unit and a 25-place EHPAD in the town centre, and offers home care (25 places). The IEDOM cites a retirement home project among the investments announced. The CPS health centre offers general medicine, home nursing, physiotherapy and dental surgery.

Saint-Pierre (5,194 inhabitants) concentrates the port, the hospital, the health centre, shops and most services: it is the simplest choice for a retiree, with 200 inhabitants per square kilometre. Miquelon (596 inhabitants for Miquelon-Langlade) offers a more isolated setting, a medical centre with a GP, two nurses, two care assistants and an ambulance driver, and an ageing index of 105.9% against 92.2% in Saint-Pierre. The village of Miquelon, about 600 inhabitants, is the subject of a relocation project linked to rising sea levels. Langlade is mostly inhabited in summer.

The territory lies 25 km from Canada, with air links to Montréal, Halifax and St. John’s (Newfoundland) and a ferry to Fortune; in summer, direct flights reach Paris. Local life revolves around events such as the Miquelon race in June and the Basque festival in August. A visit of several weeks out of season, before committing, makes it possible to assess the climate and services.