Seniors' advocates fear a growing wave of homeless people over 60 as stock of affordable housing dwindles
The 2023 Homeless Count in Greater Vancouver showed 22% were aged 55 and over
More B.C. residents aged 60 and over are facing the stress and worry of losing their homes, seniors' advocates say, as the stock of affordable housing dwindles and the cost of living continues to rise.
They say a growing number of people aged 60-plus are becoming homeless, despite government measures like the Rental Protection Fund established to secure and build affordable housing.
"On average, every week we're getting probably three calls a day from people who are either homeless, or on the verge of being homeless," said Wendy Rachwalski, manager of community services at Langley Senior Resources Society, a non-profit that provides programs for people 50 years of age and older. Langley is about 50 kilometres southeast of Vancouver.
"We're hearing about seniors who are now living in their cars, or trying to go to shelters, and shelters are not suited for seniors. We've got a transition home here in Langley, and they're actually saying that 80 per cent of the people there are now seniors, which they had never had before."
For people like 75-year-old Cran Campbell, who faces eviction in 2024 when his building in Langley is slated to be demolished, the future is terrifying because he feels like he has nowhere to go.
"There's nothing affordable out here," he said. "I've been here for probably eight years now, and so I pretty well call it home. The place where I volunteer is here, my doctors are here, my specialists are here, my friends are here. But there's no place to move to here."
Campbell, who volunteers in a Langley thrift shop, has raised concerns about housing for vulnerable populations. He's reached out to the Office of the Prime Minister, B.C.'s Minister of Housing Ravi Kahlon and others trying to bring attention to the matter.
The Office of the Seniors Advocate is an independent office of B.C.'s provincial government, advocating for seniors' rights. Isobel Mackenzie, B.C.'s seniors advocate, said many face situations similar to Campbell's.
About one in four seniors in urban areas are renters, she said. And many have an income that is distinctly lower than the working age population, so when they're evicted they simply can't afford the rental market.
"I think it's very sobering to realize that, you know, a third of our seniors are living on less than $26,000 or $27,000 a year and that's far less than even a minimum-wage job would provide. If they're renting in the Lower Mainland, the sort of the programs we have to support them … are not meeting the need by quite a wide margin," Mackenzie said.
"It's going to require a substantial shift in the amount of subsidy that's provided."
B.C.'s Rental Protection Fund was established in January to deal with the worsening housing crisis by supporting the community housing sector in acquiring occupied rental buildings to address the erosion of affordability. It's securing a number of affordable units, which may have been bought by developers. However, the supply may still be too low to help vulnerable groups, such as the rapidly growing number of people aged 60 and over.
The fund's website states that B.C. lost nearly 100,000 units that were being rented for less than $1,000 per month between 2016 and 2021 — "a trend that has accelerated in recent years."
Part of the problem is the ongoing issue of "demovictions," where tenants are evicted so landlords can demolish rental units for the purpose of building higher density housing.
Vancouver-based Craig E. Jones is the associate director of the Housing Research Collaborative, a community of housing providers and research professionals, and the Housing Assessment Resource Tools project, a research organization funded by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. He has researched demovictions in various Lower Mainland neighbourhoods located by SkyTrain stations, and said B.C. has a no-fault eviction problem.
"Analysis of the Canadian Housing Survey has shown that estimates of evictions in B.C. are much higher than other provinces. And the cause of those high rates of evictions are no fault of the tenants, " Jones said.
"We're losing far more affordable market rental units than new affordable units are being built," he added.
B.C. needs a seniors' ministry, advocates say
The 2023 Homeless Count in Greater Vancouver, which took place in March, showed 22 per cent of the unhoused counted were aged 55 and over, and 10 per cent of those were experiencing homelessness for the first time as a senior.
Alison Silgardo, CEO of Seniors Services Society of B.C. (SSSBC), said her society averages 12,000-14,000 calls a year from seniors facing homelessness for the first time in their lives, and the numbers are growing.
There are many complex reasons that seniors might find themselves facing eviction and homelessness for the first time, she said. Some have lost their jobs and cannot keep up with rent payments. Others who own their homes might be unable to pay strata levies for remedial work required, or they're unable to contribute to maintenance if they live in a co-op.
Senior abuse is also an issue that can lead to homelessness, she said.
The SSSBC, which has been operating for 44 years, said it's the leading agency on housing precarity in the 55-plus age group.
It has two programs that help clients find housing: the Seniors Housing Information and Navigation Ease (SHINE) and Temporary Housing Program (THP). Between April and October 2023, the SHINE program assisted 1,529 clients, the society said.
"In the last eight years that we've been doing this program [SHINE], we have had 100 per cent of the seniors that we have placed stay housed permanently," Silgardo said.
Despite the society's efforts, B.C. desperately needs a seniors' ministry — a branch of government that exists in other provinces — to urgently address the issues facing the province's older residents, Silgardo said.
Instead, B.C. has a seniors advocate, who is responsible for overseeing and evaluating seniors services and concerns in the province. However, their powers are comparatively limited to those of a ministry.
For example, Ontario's Ministry of Seniors and Accessibility is able to provide seniors with more programs and services for housing, such as home adaptations, financial assistance for low-income seniors looking to renovate their homes, seniors property tax relief and rent supplements.
In the meantime, B.C. seniors like Cran Campbell will continue to face challenges finding and staying in affordable housing.
"When I have to move out of here and I haven't got a place that I consider affordable, what am I going to do? And what is the next person going to do? Or what is the next person down the road gonna do? They're gonna be out in the street," he said.
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With files from Gloria Macarenko