Seniors

General Information

Photo by Sheila Z.

According to the 2006 census, there are more than 76,000 seniors (65 and older) over 10,000 of whom are In the over 85 group. Female seniors outnumber men; 44% of seniors are male and 56% are female.

Vancouver’s seniors, like the rest of the City’s population, are an ethno-culturally diverse group. Seniors who are relatively recent immigrants to Canada often have difficulty learning English and therefore face barriers in accessing services and becoming part of the broader community. While the number of seniors in different communities varies, language barriers may exist for Cantonese, Mandarin, Taiwanese, Punjabi, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Korean, Spanish-speaking and other seniors. One objective in the Social Planning Department’s ongoing work has been to increase access to services for these seniors and to support networking amongst seniors of all cultures.

While some seniors are well off, many live on limited incomes. Almost 20% of Vancouver seniors have incomes below the low-income cut-off (after-tax) and seniors who have only Old Age Security (OAS) and Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) have incomes of approximately $1000/month. Seniors who are family-sponsored immigrants may have even lower incomes. They do not qualify for financial support until after ten years of residency, and then may qualify for only a small amount of OAS. Many seniors, Canadian-born and immigrants, have been negatively affected by increasing costs for health services and decreased access to services such as home support.

For more information on the seniors population, please refer to our new Seniors Background Paper and Seniors Fact Sheet.

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Seniors Groups in Vancouver

Unlike other Lower Mainland municipalities which have relatively centralized seniors’ centres, Vancouver has smaller neighbourhood-based centres and groups scattered throughout the city. These centres have been developed largely through the efforts of committed people in the different neighbourhoods or communities. In some cases, the Province or the City has assisted in their development, chiefly by providing the building or operating space.

411 Seniors Centre, which is the largest centre and has the broadest range of programs and initiatives, operates out of a Provincially-owned building on Dunsmuir Street in Downtown Vancouver. The West End Seniors Network, Brock House, and Marpole Place operate in City/Park Board-owned buildings. Oakridge Seniors Centre operates in Oakridge Mall, in a space negotiated by Social Planning during one of the mall’s redevelopments. In other cases, seniors’ groups operate out of non-market housing developments: Vancouver Second Mile and Neighbourhood Helpers in the Downtown Eastside and Continental Seniors in Downtown South are examples. Contact information on many of the City’s seniors’ groups can be found in Information Services Vancouver Red Book Online.

In comparison with other sectors in community services, seniors groups have very few funding options. The Federal government has just re-instituted the New Horizons Program, which provides one-time funding for small projects. However, neither the federal nor provincial government provides funding to support ongoing programs.

Locally, the City of Vancouver and Vancouver Coastal Health are among the only sources of ongoing support. In 2010, the City provided approximately $508,000 to 19 different seniors’ programs through its Community Services Grants Program (see Council Report).

Despite these limitations, Vancouver seniors’ centres and groups contribute to the well-being of seniors in their areas by engaging them and providing a range of services, activities and opportunities for participation. In addition to providing funding support through the City grants, Social Planning staff work with various centres to enhance their operations and develop programs to meet community needs.

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