Canadian seniors’ financial and physical health have not improved over the past three years, a new survey by the National Institute on Ageing reveals.
The research organization surveyed nearly 6,000 seniors aged 50 and older for its third iteration of their annual study, which was released Jan. 28.
“In some cases, there’s actually a very small but [noticeable] shift towards things getting worse,” said Natalie Iciaszczyk, lead study author and research program manager at the institute.
About 40 per cent of seniors or at risk of being isolated. The majority — 59 per cent — experienced some level of loneliness. Only a third say they are financially ready to retire when they plan to retire.
These numbers have remained largely constant in recent years.
“We were not surprised by the survey,” said Bill Vangorder, chief operations officer at the Canadian Association of Retired Persons, an advocacy organization. “Seniors are still in dire straits in many areas right across the country,” he said.
‘Outlive their money’
This year, the NIA Ageing in Canada Survey included a new measure for financial health, called the Material Deprivation Index.
Whereas previous surveys relied exclusively on income levels, this index includes information on seniors’ ability to afford goods, services and activities most Canadians “view as necessary for achieving an acceptable living standard.”
For example, it considers whether someone has the ability to pay their bills in a timely manner, or keep their house at a comfortable temperature year-round.
The new index reveals a “troubling trend” of more seniors experiencing financial hardship than Ottawa’s official estimates reflect, says Iciaszczyk. For seniors aged 65 and older, the figure is 14 per cent — more than double Canada’s official measure of about six per cent.
“A lot of Canadians are feeling financially squeezed or stretched right now. And so for those who are trying to save for retirement, obviously their finances are having to compete with the rising cost of living and other expenses that they may have,” said Iciaszczyk.
The new index also reveals a quarter of seniors have saved only $5,000 or less for their retirement.
“This [amount] … does not account for the fact that they may have property or other sources of income,” said Iciaszczyk. “But in terms of liquid finances [that] they can fall back on, a huge segment of our population has nothing.”
This figure suggests many seniors plan to rely on public pensions or government benefits, says Iciaszczyk. Those who do are likely to see a dip in their standard of living in retirement, she says.
The low savings levels also suggest many will rely on selling their homes to fund their retirement. But across-the-board home price increases mean even a downsized home may still be costly, leaving less of a windfall than perhaps expected, says Vangorder, of the Canadian Association of Retired Persons.
And with Canadian seniors’ life expectancy creeping higher, “that then raises the question, ‘what will they do?’,” said Iciaszczyk.
“The biggest worry seniors have is that they will outlive their money,” said Vangorder.
‘Things will get worse’
About two-thirds of seniors who needed health-care services said they were able to access them all or most of the time, the NIA Ageing in Canada Survey shows. This number has not changed since 2022.
But 11 per cent of seniors could rarely or never access the services and treatments they needed in 2024. The most common barriers to care were difficulty getting appointments and canceled or delayed treatments.
These findings are a big concern, says Iciaszczyk. “If we’re not able to meet the current demand, things are only going to get worse, or at least we can only expect them to,” she said.
Seniors also reported that they struggle to access home care or community support services, such as meal delivery programs. These programs can help seniors age in their homes — something 80 per cent of seniors say they hope to do.
National strategy for loneliness
Seniors in poor financial or physical health are more likely to have weak social networks, according to the 2024 NIA Ageing in Canada Survey. The percentage of survey respondents reporting feelings of isolation and loneliness has not changed since 2022.
“It’s concerning to see that despite … efforts to address these issues, there has been no shift,” said Iciaszczyk.
The National Institute on Ageing advocates for Ottawa to develop a national strategy to help address isolation and loneliness. Australia and the UK both already have national strategies on senior loneliness.
In Canada, Vangorder says pandemic-era shutdowns led many businesses and institutions that used to accommodate seniors’ events to permanently close. It is necessary that such spaces be funded, he says.
“Hopefully [the institute’s survey] will bring attention to [seniors who are struggling], so that governments and others will take the actions that are necessary to clear up some of these problems.”
This is definitely a sad state of affairs which will hopefully be addressed by our new government; churches; and other charitable organizations working together. To help prevent these issues from arising in the future, more needs to be done to educate our young on financial literacy in the early grades. These children can take their homework home and hopefully their parents, who fell through the previous gap in financial literacy education, to learn as well. Educating young people to know the difference between a “need” & a “want” and encouraging the investment of even small amounts at a young age will lead to better retirement outcomes. As Albert Einstein said “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world.” No steps will completely eliminate poverty. however, education is a strong 1st step. The 2nd should be teaching compassion for those who cannot escape poverty. Together, these 2 steps, should eliminate the issues we are seeing today in terms of the poor financial health of some of our elderly.
I believe my generation is going to be the last one who can afford to live on the old age pension alone – as long as they don’t live in a big city. So yes setting money aside as young as possible can no longer be optional.