This 95-year-old BC man was evicted from a seniors’ residence after running out of money — he has nowhere to go and doesn’t qualify for long-term care. Is the system broken?

Why seniors are struggling with housing costs

After being evicted, Cullina spent four desperate days at the emergency department of a local hospital. His friends are helping him try to figure out an alternate housing solution.

The average cost of senior housing for standard spaces — in which the resident doesn’t require more than 1.5 hours of care per day — averaged $3,075 per month in 2021, according to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This cost varies across Canada, with the average cost of standard senior housing in BC at $3,541 per month.

It’s likely that these rates have since gone up even more, in line with increases to the cost of living in Canada. It would be tricky to pay $3,000+ per month if you were collecting any of the standard income vehicles for seniors.

The Canada Pension Plan is available to Canadians who have paid into the system through pay cheque deductions, but the amount they receive is based on how much they’ve contributed and for how long. For 2024, the maximum monthly amount, if you start taking your pension at age 65, is $1,364.60, while the average benefit paid out is $815.

Unlike CPP, Old Age Security (OAS) is available to all Canadians at age 65, and the maximum monthly pension amount they can collect is $727.67 for those 65 to 74 (if their annual income is less than $148,451) and $800.44 for those 75 and older (if their annual income is less than $154,196). Those with higher incomes must pay part of their benefit back in the form of a recovery tax.

However, if you’ve lived in Canada at least 10 years but less than 40 years, then you’re only eligible for a partial OAS pension. As a US citizen who has lived in Canada for 30 years, Cullina isn’t eligible — and even if he was, a full pension wouldn’t be nearly enough to live on in BC.

For low-income seniors, the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) is designed to provide additional non-taxable income to low-income pensioners. The maximum monthly cheque for a Canadian senior who is single, divorced or widowed is $1,086.88 for 2024 (if their annual income is less than $22,056).

However, seniors who rely solely on OAS and GIS have a difficult time finding affordable housing, according to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, which suggests this problem “will only get worse as the overall demand for social-housing units increases and supply decreases.”

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Navigating the system to find solutions

Cullina also doesn’t qualify for publicly subsidized long-term care, which provides 24-hour support for people who can’t be cared for at home or in an assisted living facility. Eligibility varies from province to province, and in BC, you need a professional assessment that shows you require 24-hour nursing care that can’t be adequately met in your home or by other services.

Even if you do qualify, there can be long wait times for admission, particularly in high-demand areas. In 2023, the average wait time for a long-term care bed in BC was 101 days, while average wait times increased overall by 166% over the previous five years, according to a report by the Office of the Seniors Advocate in BC.

For someone like Cullina who is out of money — and in debt — there aren’t a lot of options. He may be able to find accommodation in a co-housing or shared living arrangement, or his friends could connect him with a charitable organization that offers financial aid or support services for seniors in need.

According to the National Institute on Ageing’s National Seniors Strategy research, housing affordability and adequacy are growing issues across the country, and options “exist along a continuum from homeless shelters to individual home ownership.” At the same time, “lack of access to affordable housing increases the likelihood of physical and mental health problems for older Canadians,” the report says.

The organization suggests that prioritizing investments that support more vulnerable groups of older Canadians to access the right housing supports “will enable more individuals to age with housing security, and ideally, in the community of their choice.” But for many seniors like Cullina, time is of the essence.

Sources

1. Global News: 95-year-old living in B.C. emergency room after eviction from care home (Oct 8, 2024)

2. CIHI: Long-term care homes in Canada: How many and who owns them? (June 10, 2021)

3. Statistics Canada

4. Government of Canada Canada Pension Plan - Retirement pension

5. Government of Canada CPP Retirement pension: How much you could receive

6. Government of Canada Old Age Security

7. Government of Canada Old Age Security payment amounts

8. CCPA We Need to Talk About Social Housing for Seniors (Sept 26, 2023)

9. Govenment of British Columbia Long-Term Care Services (July 17, 2024)

10. Office of Seniors Advocate British Columbia Long-Term Care and Assisted Living Directory

11. NIA: Canada Still Needs A National Seniors Strategy