Election 2021: It’s Time for a National Seniors Strategy — Where the Major Parties Stand on Comprehensive Ageing Issues
At the National Institute on Ageing, we have long advocated for greater federal leadership and provincial cooperation to address the challenges and to harness the opportunities of Canada’s ageing population. The need for a coordinated, comprehensive, national strategy has become acute over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought to public attention the inadequacies, gaps and failures of our systems of care for older adults—with tragic results.
With an election only weeks away, on September 20, 2021, Canadians now have an opportunity to chart a new course for ageing in Canada. Many of the challenges and issues that are important to older adults are at the forefront of the political conversation—including systemic reform of long-term care, affordable homecare options, financial security in retirement and pension improvements.
That's why we developed our National Seniors Strategy, an evidence-based, comprehensive blueprint for government action. The National Seniors Strategy identifies 14 core areas of focus for successful and healthy ageing in Canada—from improving long-term care and expanding home care, to shoring up our systems of financial support for Canadians as they retire. It tackles abuse and ageism, as well as the necessity of establishing age-friendly communities and accessible transportation across the country.
The upcoming federal election will be especially important for older adults, who have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as their caregivers and loved ones. In particular, deaths and hospitalizations due to COVID-19 have been highly concentrated among residents of Canada’s long-term care and retirement homes, with 15,265 out of 26,961 (57%) total deaths occurring in these settings, as of September 7, 2021. With voter turnout among Canada’s nearly 7-million adults aged 65 and older consistently remaining high—85% of those aged 65 to 75 and 79% of those aged 75 and older voted in the 2019 election—this is an opportunity to support meaningful change in legislation, policy, programs and resources.
Before heading to the ballot box, take a look at where the parties stand on the social, political and economic priorities of older adults. While only one party—the NDP—raises the specific issue of a National Seniors Strategy, each party provides a collection of commitments aimed at older voters. And while there are differences in their respective approaches and policies on the major issues, the parties largely commit to action on the same set of concerns, ranging from investments in long-term care to strengthening the retirement income system for older Canadians.
In alphabetical order, we have laid out the major parties’ commitments on seniors’ issues during this election cycle. The proposals below are drawn directly and exclusively from the party platforms and websites—we have excluded comments and commitments that are not articulated within the official party platforms or websites.
Bloc Québécois Platform — “Strong Commitments for and by Quebecers!”
The Bloc Québécois released a 30-page party platform. While there are no specific sections on older adults, the platform outlines several policy initiatives that target this group. This includes a pledge to raise the standard of living for seniors and increasing Old Age Security (OAS) pension payments. The Bloc also promises to abolish any discriminatory provisions in the Federal Pensions Act, specifically proposing to repeal provisions that prevent seniors from collecting a deceased spouse’s pension. It also notes that increasing the monthly pension for all seniors aged 65 and over remains essential. Lastly, as part of its platform to address labour shortages, the Bloc will propose measures to encourage older Canadians to continue working, enabling low-income seniors to earn more without added claw backs to government pension benefits.
Conservative Party of Canada Platform — “Canada’s Recovery Plan”
The Conservative party platform pledges $3 billion for building long-term care infrastructure, including renovations to existing homes. The platform also aims to increase the number of personal support workers by providing immigration priority for individuals who can work in long-term care and home care, and attract more personal support workers to Canada through immigration and settlement programs.
The Conservatives propose supporting seniors to stay in their own homes or to live with their families by increasing the Home Accessibility Tax Credit limit from a maximum of $10,000 per dwelling to $10,000 per qualifying person within a dwelling. Also, seniors and their caregivers would be able to claim the Medical Expense Tax Credit for home care, currently available only to those who live in group care homes. Additionally, the Conservatives have committed to introducing the Canada Seniors Care Benefits program, which would pay $200 per household to anyone living with and taking care of a parent aged 70 years and older.
Finally, the Conservatives also promise to implement measures to protect pensions. This would be done by preventing executives from paying themselves bonuses while managing a company through a restructuring if the pension is not fully funded, no longer forcing underfunded pension to be paid in annuities, and by requiring companies to report the funding status of their pensions clearly.
Green Party of Canada Platform — “Be Daring.”
The Green party is pledging to reform long-term care in Canada by bringing it under the Canada Health Act to ensure universal access to “quality, affordable care.” The party is also proposing improvements to the quality of care in long-term care homes by creating enforceable National Standards for LTC, setting a national standard of four hours of regulated care per day for each resident, and providing all needed vaccinations (beyond COVID-19) to residents, staff and caregivers. The platform pledges to increase and stabilize staffing in LTC by improving training, pay, benefits and paid sick leave for workers.
The Green Party also commits to increasing investment in home and community care including by providing a dedicated Seniors’ Care Transfer, separate from the federal health transfers, for improvements to home, community and LTC care. In addition, the Green Party says it will end for-profit LTC facilities, increase the proportion of LTC investment in home and community-based care from 13% to 35%, make the Caregiver Tax Credit a refundable tax credit, and change the Home Renovation Tax Credit from $10,000 per household to $10,000 per person.
The Green Party also pledges to implement measures to protect pensions for seniors. These include amending insolvency legislation and pension benefit legislation for federally-regulated pensions. The party also promises to introduce a refundable tax credit that is equal to the amount of pension loss an individual has incurred, for those whose pension plans fail.
Finally, the Green Party platform includes proposals to develop and fund national dementia and elder abuse strategies.
Liberal Party of Canada Platform — “Forward. For Everyone.”
The Liberal party is pledging an investment of $9 billion over five years to “support safer conditions for seniors and improved wages and working conditions for personal support workers”. It has committed to improving the quality and availability of LTC beds, implementing strict infection prevention and control measures, and developing a Safe Long-Term Care Act. The Liberals are also promising to continue working with the provinces and territories to raise wages for personal support workers to at least $25 per hour and by training up to 50,000 new personal support workers.
The Liberal party has also committed to supporting seniors to age in their own homes. The party proposes to double the Home Accessibility Tax Credit from $10,000 to $20,000 to help make homes more accessible. The Liberals also pledge to create “an expert panel to provide recommendations for establishing the Aging at Home Benefit”.
Finally, the Liberal party’s platform also includes several proposals to improve retirement security. The party has committed to increasing the OAS by 10% next year for Canadians aged 75 and over, and the GIS by $500 for single seniors and $750 for couples, starting at age 65. The party also pledges to increase the Canada Pension Plan and Quebec Pension Plan survivor’s benefit by 25%.
New Democratic Party (NDP) Platform — “Ready for Better: New Democrats’ Commitments to You”
The NDP platform commits to ensuring better access to quality home care and long-term care. This includes a promise to “end private, for-profit long-term care and bring long-term care homes under the public umbrella.” The NDP are also promising to develop national care standards for home care and long-term care, which would be regulated by the same principles as the Canada Health Act. This process would include setting minimum national care standards for long-term care residents, determining a set of core home care services that will be available and covered by provincial insurance plans, and ensuring safe working environments for personal support and health care workers.
The party is also committing to improve retirement security for Canadians by establishing a Pension Advisory Commission to develop a long-term plan to enhance Old Age Security (OAS), boost the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), and strengthen the Canada Pension Plan. The NDP is also proposing to put in place a one-year delay to help seniors at risk of having their GIS benefits suspended for being unable to provide the required income statement, and pledge to make automatic enrollment in the OAS and GIS retroactive for Canadians who had not enrolled at the point of eligibility. The NDP proposes to protect pensions in the context of bankruptcy, promising to “make sure that pensioners are at the front of the line when a company goes bankrupt.”
The NDP platform includes a proposal to lead a National Seniors Strategy, “to make seniors’ healthcare a priority, reduce isolation and address seniors’ poverty.” The proposed Seniors Strategy will include a funded national dementia strategy and an elder abuse prevention program.
What are these promises going to cost?
The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) has provided costing services for the 2021 campaign platforms. This enables parties or independent members of the House of Commons to submit a request to have any campaign proposal costed out, which the PBO then posts publicly. As of September 8, 2021, the Conservative, Liberal and NDP parties had submitted requests to have some of their proposed policies costed out.
Successfully meeting the challenges of Canada’s ageing population will require a high level of coordination and mobilization across all levels of government and between the public and private sectors. Indeed, many are now seeing the need for an integrated approach, with strong federal leadership and a commitment to ongoing partnership and collaboration with the provinces and territories. A National Seniors Strategy could provide Canadians with the framework, accountability and focus we need to ensure Canada can become the best country in which to grow up and grow old.
The National Institute on Ageing (NIA) is a national, non-partisan think tank focused on the realities of Canada’s ageing population. Through our work, our mission is to enhance successful ageing across the life course and to make Canada the best place to grow up and grow old. Follow us on Twitter @RyersonNIA and support our call for a National Seniors Strategy @NSS_Now.