Vancouver seniors are becoming increasingly vulnerable to homelessness, report finds

Seniors are becoming increasingly vulnerable to homelessness in Vancouver, according to a joint report released by theUniversity of Victoriaand Union Gospel Mission,

The report found thatover the last five years, the number of seniors waiting for subsidized housing in Vancouver has increased by38 per cent. Since 2002, more than 1,000seniors have been added tothe waiting list, making the total number of applicants3,516.

The report concluded that seniors are one of many groups that are increasingly at risk of homelessnessdue to Vancouver's affordability woes.

The findings havecaught the eyes of members of theB.C. NDPwho believe seniors should be presented with more affordable living opportunities.

"It's disheartening because these are people who have worked their entire lives," SelinaRobinson, the NDP's spokesperson for seniors,told hostGloriaMacarenkoonCBC'sBC Almanac. "They perhaps never made a lot of money but they did their share."

"With the housing prices going up the way theyare ... we have a lot of people who are just stuck.They're just trapped in this never-ending cycle of poverty," she said. "There's this whole senior group that I don't think government is really paying attention to."

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Incomesupplement unchanged for 25 years

Robinson says the issue is further compounded by the fact that the B.C. Senior's Supplement a guaranteed income supplement for low-income residents age 65 and older is only $49.30 per monthand hasn't been raised since 1991.

"I think that's criminalthat there hasn't been recognitionthat the cost oflivingin 25 yearshasn'tbeen matched by the B.C. Senior's Supplement," she said.

There are, however, affordable living supplementsthat low-income seniors can also tap into. B.C. Housing's Shelter Aid for Elderly Residents (SAFER) program subsidizes rent costs for 17,000 senior householdsacross the province.

According to B.C. Seniors AdvocateIsobel Mackenzie, the subsidy works out to an additional $254 per month for renters in Vancouver. It also hasn't risen to match the cost of living.

"The problem is the rent supplements have not risen with the tandem of the increases in rent," Mackenzesaid. "Over ten years, rent went up 34 per cent but [the] supplement cap only went up 9 per cent."

Mackenzie has lobbied for an increase in the subsidies, something that she thinks would be a quick way to begin alleviating the financial hardship endured by many seniors in the region.

"If we can focus on an immediate solution on raising that rent cap, especially in Metro Vancouver, that will help out many low-income seniors," she said.

But the supplement is only part of the solution.Mackenzie says increasing the number of affordable housing options will also be necessary to help curbthe growing number of seniors who are vulnerable to Vancouver's rising costs of living.

"There's not one answer and onesolutionfor the housing needs for seniors," she said. "Seniors are very different.They have different housing needsand they have different wants and desires."

With files from CBC's BC Almanac

To listen to the full interview, click on the audio labelled:Advocates want to increase affordable housing options for seniors