More seniors and older adults seek housing help in Waterloo region, officials say

More seniors and older adults have been seeking housing help from shelters in Waterloo region, the executive director of the Cambridge Shelter Corporation says.

Approximately 40 per cent of the people staying at the shelter, also known as The Bridges, are older adults between 55 and 60 plus.

Some are finding themselves in this situation for the first time, Wayne Paddick told CBC News.

"We get a lot of independent business owners come through because they don't necessarily have that pension saved up that someone who has been working for a government agency would have," Paddick said.

"We get a lot of our older adults coming through, spinning their wheels because they've never had to experience the system from this angle before."

Paddick said it all comes down to money. Many of the seniors in their care are single, whether it's because their partner passed away or a relationship ended. The high cost of rent and evictions are big contributors to why they lose their homes.

"They can no longer afford to live where they are by themselves," he said.

'It's going to continue to get worse'

The lack of affordable rentals is also a big problem for the people accessing the emergency shelters that The Working Centre operates on University Avenue, King Street and Erbs Road.

Though the percentage of older adults at these shelters are low (less than six per cent are over the age of 60 and 20 per cent are between 50 and 59), director and founder of The Working Centre Joe Mancini fears the problem will only grow.

"From what we are seeing in the housing market in the past couple of months, we think it's going to continue to get worse," he said.

"There's just not enough apartment units that are affordable to people. It's very, very difficult to replace that unit once you lose it."

Notice of motion from regional councillor

The Cambridge Shelter Corporation is also serving more people this summer than before, Paddick said, adding this time of year is normally when they see a decline in people coming through their doors. People who are refugees are also contributing to the rise in people at the shelter, Paddick said.

The shelter says has served more than 35,600 meals so far this year and is on track to serve over 70,000 by December and is asking for donations of food and clothing on its Facebook page to meet the need. 

Cambridge regional Coun. Pam Wolf told CBC News she plans to bring a notice of motion forward at a committee meeting on Aug. 15 to ask the region to advocate to the province and the federal governments to raise payments for people on Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program. She would also like to see a guaranteed basic income program introduced to help people afford rent and groceries.

"We don't have people with adequate income to buy food," she said. 

"It would certainly solve a lot of problems. If you have a guaranteed basic living income, that gives the people a sense of security."