Vacancy rates for some B.C. seniors' facilities up for first time in years

A new report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation shows vacancy rates at B.C. seniors' independent living facilities are up for the first time since 2012, while spaces for people requiring high-level care have decreased.

Spaces still in high demand for those with low income or high-level care needs

CBC News · Posted: Jun 03, 2019 6:17 PM EDT | Last Updated: June 3, 2019

An older woman looks out of a window — Vacancy rates for housing at B.C. seniors' facilities are up but only for those who do not require high-level care. (Shutterstock)

A new study from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation shows vacancy rates at some seniors' facilities in British Columbia are up for the first time since 2012.

According to the CMHC, vacancy rates for standard spaces, also referred to as independent living spaces, increased from three per cent in 2018 to 4.2 per cent in 2019.

The study also shows non-standard spaces, which are units for residents requiring at least 1.5 hours of high-level care — such as people living with dementia — decreased from 2.1 per cent in 2018 to 1.3 per cent in 2019.

Eric Bond, an analyst with CHMC, said the increase for standard spaces is likely due to a greater availability of services in the home so people can choose to age outside of a facility, as well as because the province has opened new facilities since 2012.

Not everyone benefits

But for low-income seniors, a vacant standard space in one of those facilities may still be out of reach.

"Spaces with rents of under $1,900 a month were in the highest demand and the vacancy rate was the lowest among the groups," said Bond. The lowest vacancy rate was recorded in spaces with rents between $2,900 and $4,900 a month.

According to Bond, about 40 per cent of the new standard spaces were built on Vancouver Island, where the population of seniors is 24 per cent, which is about five per cent higher than the rest of the province.