Seniors' advocate calls for more public funding in B.C.'s assisted living system

B.C.'s seniors advocate is calling for a comprehensive review of the province's assisted living system, saying the current iteration is byzantine and leaving seniors confused.

Isobel Mackenzie released a report on assisted living in B.C. on Wednesday, which found that if the government fails to reform the system, it will exacerbate pressure on long-term and acute care facilities.

Assisted living generally refers to when a senior has their own private living space, including laundry facilities, but shared meal facilities and activities with other seniors. They are occasionally referred to as retirement homes or "supportive living".

While they include assistance with daily activities like eating and bathing, seniors with more complex health challenges are often sent to long-term care facilities instead.

Mackenzie said there are 4,520 seniors currently living in publicly subsidized assisted living homes, but that data showed they were "becoming increasingly frail with more care needs."

"We are hearing increasingly from our residents in assisted living that they are finding it very challenging financially to stay in assisted living," she said at a news conference.

"We know that some are choosing to go to long-term care because they can't afford assisted living."

Mackenzie said despite a 52 per cent increase in government funding to assisted living facilities over the last five years, very few additional assisted housing units were built in that timespan.

In contrast, 165 units were built in the private pay market — where there are no staffing regulations or training requirements for staff, and clinical oversight is not mandated.

"This isn't the only example where government will talk about their increases … in funding that aren't translating into increases in service," she said.

Mackenzie called on the province to significantly increase the capacity of publicly-funded assisted living facilities, and reduce the confusion that seniors feel when they navigate them.

She added they should provide explicit tenancy protections for seniors struggling to afford assisted living facilities, under the Residential Tenancy Act, and overhaul the current regulations and enforcement regime.

Mackenzie noted it had been 20 years since the Community Care and Assisted Living Act — which governs assisted living homes — was introduced, and it was time for the province to review and update it.

Terry Lake, CEO of the B.C. Care Providers' Association and a former health minister, said the province needed "far more" publicly-funded assisted living units.

"We've got this huge wave of older British Columbians coming at us that will require more investment, more supports," he told CBC News.

"What we've seen so far doesn't come nearly close enough to meeting that demand."

A spokesperson for the health ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.