City of Vancouver approves first seniors housing strategy
CBC
Advocates are applauding the City of Vancouver's first seniors housing strategy, though some say there is still room for improvement.
The city council unanimously approved a comprehensive strategy Tuesday that aims at ensuring that seniors can access affordable housing and support across Vancouver.
In particular, the strategy outlines policies to establish more housing options for seniors, promote housing designs that meet the specific needs of older adults, and create more relocation protections for those living in community care and assisted living residences in case of redevelopment.
It also calls for more partnerships with the province to get additional funding and support.
B.C.'s seniors' advocate, Dan Levitt, called the plan "well thought out."
He highlighted the focus on having seniors' housing in communities all around the city, which would allow older residents to age in the neighbourhood that they prefer.
"No matter what postal code you're in, you'll have an equal chance of having a life as a senior where you're living life to the fullest as you wish to do," Levitt said.
Michael Volker, executive director of 411 Seniors Centre Society, similarly welcomed the strategy. But he also said the city needs to be building more below-market rentals for seniors.
"They have their estimation of how much new housing they need," he said. "We don't think that goes far enough."
Volker told CBC News that two-thirds of seniors seeking support from his organization have housing issues, which he says was not the case just one or two years ago.
According to the city's homeless count for 2023, over 20 per cent of Vancouver's homeless population were seniors or individuals aged 55 and above. And almost half of them first experienced homelessness when they were already a senior, it says.
ABC Coun. Mike Klassen said the city's strategy has a roadmap for creating below-market units, but it also "depends upon the province to be able to provide funding for this type of housing."
He added that the city plans to advocate for such a partnership with the province as part of the strategy.
Altogether, Klassen said being able to provide seniors with housing and support are top of mind for the City of Vancouver, especially as its population is aging.
Egmont MP Bobby Morrissey says federal help for Prince Edward Island's struggling oyster fishery is expected early in the new year.
Calgary police have charged a man with defrauding numerous seniors out of about $186,000 in a string of incidents over a five-week period.
A Brampton lawyer allegedly connected to fugitive Ryan Wedding was granted bail Tuesday morning by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
Rankin Inlet hamlet councillors recently passed a motion that has had them avoid drinking alcohol for the 12 days leading up to Christmas, with the goal of setting a positive example for the community.
Jason Jacques says he learned a lot about the importance of choosing his words carefully in his first few months as the interim parliamentary budget officer (PBO).
Durham police say a man is dead after suffering multiple stab wounds in Oshawa Tuesday morning.
An internal review of technical outages that caused significant delays at airports and international land borders this fall has exposed critical flaws with the Canada Border Services Agency's IT services.
Two people are in life-threatening condition after being pulled from a house fire in Scarborough Tuesday morning, according to Toronto Fire Services.
Whenever the door opens at the British Grenadier Bookshop, proprietor Steve Douglas doesn’t know who is going to walk through.
A northeastern Ontario potato farmer says he’s shipping more bags of potatoes to southern Ontario to make up for waning demand.
Halifax’s registry of rental properties is now available to the public online, showing what HRM staff believe are the “bulk” of rentals in the city.
A New Brunswick tenant says he’s being pushed out of his rented bungalow as retribution for complaining about his landlord, but his landlord says she’s the victim of an unfair tenancy tribunal ruling that is preventing her from using the unit to house family.
Snow and freezing rain could affect morning commutes on Tuesday, according to a special weather statement issued by Environment Canada.