National Seniors Council Report Recommends How Federal Government Can Further Support Canadians Aging at Home

From: Employment and Social Development Canada

News release

June 25, 2024             Gatineau, Quebec          Employment and Social Development Canada

Every senior deserves to age with dignity and choice, in their communities and on their terms.

Today, Canada’s Minister for Seniors, the Honourable Seamus O’Regan Jr. and the Minister of Health, the Honourable Mark Holland, welcomed a new report from the National Seniors Council (NSC) examining measures to further support Canadians aging at home, titled Supporting Canadians Aging at Home: Ensuring Quality of Life as We Age.

The report provides insights into the services, supports, strategies, and solutions that enable Canadian seniors to age at home on their terms and in good health. It highlights three priority areas for action including additional financial benefits for low-income seniors, reinforced community-based support and services, and new initiatives to promote and help plan for aging, retirement, and life in later years.

The NSC engaged with a diverse audience to prepare its report, including seniors, caregivers, stakeholders, and experts. Through online consultation, roundtables, and interviews, they worked to determine the needs of Canadian seniors and identify the gaps in current supports for aging at home.

The Government is currently reviewing its findings and recommendations.

The Government of Canada is leveraging the care economy to help seniors age on their terms and create good, well-paying jobs for Canadians. In addition to their work, Budget 2024 announced the upcoming introduction of the Safe Long-Term Care Act, so that we can do right by seniors, their families and care workers and make sure that what happened during the pandemic never happens again. Budget 2024 also announced the Government’s plans to develop a National Caregiving Strategy to think big on the future of care, and starting up a new Sectoral Table on the Care Economy to listen to the experts on what we can do to tackle the care crisis today. It’s all about listening to the people who know best, so seniors can age on their own terms and caregivers have what they need to be at their best.

Quotes

“Every senior deserves to age with dignity and choice, in their communities and on their terms. The National Seniors Council knows that.”

The Honourable Seamus O’Regan Jr
Minister for Seniors

“The Government of Canada has an important role to play in supporting people in Canada to age in their own homes and communities, for as long as possible. This report will guide our ongoing efforts to develop targeted policies and initiatives that promote healthy aging and ensure that older persons have access to the care and support they need.”

The Honourable Mark Holland
Minister of Health

Quick facts

  • In 2007, the Government of Canada established the National Seniors Council (NSC). The NSC reports to the Minister of Labour and Seniors and the Minister of Health. The NSC engages with seniors, stakeholders, and experts to provide advice to the Government of Canada on current and emerging issues and opportunities related to the health, well-being, and quality of life of seniors.

  • On October 6, 2022, the Minister of Seniors and the Minister of Health announced that the NSC would serve as an expert panel to examine measures to further support Canadians who wish to age within the comfort of their homes. 

  • Since its inception, the NSC has examined issues related to the social isolation of seniors, the participation of older workers in the labour force, positive and active aging, volunteerism, low income among seniors and elder and financial abuse.

  • The NSC is made up of experts on seniors’ issues and aging, individuals with experience working for organizations that represent the interests of seniors and seniors themselves.

  • Under the Working Together to Improve Health Care for Canadians plan, the Government is working with provinces and territories to implement two series of bilateral agreements, one of which is the Aging with Dignity agreement which focuses on helping Canadians age with dignity, closer to home with access to home or community care or care in a safe long-term care facility.  

  • The Aging with Dignity agreement, which complements the Working Together agreement, includes $2.4 billion over four years to improve access to home and community care from Budget 2017; and $3 billion over five years for long-term care from Budget 2021 to apply standards of care in long-term care facilities and help support workforce stability. 

Associated links

Contacts

For media enquiries, please contact:

Hartley Witten
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Labour and Minister for Seniors, Seamus O’Regan Jr.
343-575-1065
hartley.witten@labour-travail.gc.ca

Christopher Aoun
Press Secretary
Office of the Honourable Mark Holland
Minister of Health
613-291-4176

Media Relations Office
Employment and Social Development Canada
819-994-5559
media@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca
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