Question Period Note: ELDER ABUSE IN CANADA

What is the Government doing to protect Canada’s seniors from elder abuse?

• The Government of Canada values the many contributions made by seniors to our nation. That is why we are working to implement measures to help improve the lives of seniors and their families.

• We recognize that elder abuse is a serious issue affecting many seniors in Canada.

• The Government will move forward with a national definition of elder abuse, invest in better data collection and law enforcement, and establish new penalties in the Criminal Code relating to elder abuse.

• This builds on work taken already or under way, such as the National Seniors Council’s examination of the issue of financial abuse of seniors and funding under the New Horizons for Seniors Program to community groups to help reduce elder abuse.

The abuse of older adults remains an often hidden but serious social problem that affects the lives of thousands of seniors in Canada. Elder abuse includes physical abuse, psychological abuse, financial abuse and sexual abuse.

In December 2018, Ministers approved the National Seniors Council’s three-year work plan (2018-2021) with the following four work priorities:
1. Identifying measures to address crimes and other harms against seniors;
2. Examining potential objectives and elements of a national seniors strategy;
3. Providing advice on federal initiatives (such as the National Housing Strategy) using an age-friendly/healthy aging perspective; and
4. Identifying measures to counteract ageism by shifting the public discourse on aging.
The NSC hosted an expert round table and town hall in March 2019, to identify promising practices and discuss new measures to reduce financial crimes and harms against seniors. A ‘what we heard report’ summarizing the discussions was published on the Government of Canada website in August 2019.

From 2007 to 2015, New Horizons for Seniors Program pan-Canadian funding focused on increasing the awareness of elder abuse and invested in over 70 projects, which developed, replicated, adapted, and disseminated tools, resources and promising practices across the country.

The New Horizons for Seniors Program continues to increase elder abuse awareness through its annual funding of one-year community-based projects for an amount of up to $25,000. From 2004-2019, the Government of Canada awarded close to $35 million in funding to organizations across Canada for more than 700 projects with a focus on elder abuse awareness.

Budget 2019 included significant additional funding of $100 million over five years, with $20 million per year ongoing, for the New Horizons for Seniors Program so that it can continue to improve seniors’ quality of life.

In the 2019 federal election, the Liberal Party’s electoral platform included commitments to help protect seniors from abuse. These included moving forward with a national definition of elder abuse, investing in better data collection and law enforcement, and establishing new penalties in the Criminal Code relating to elder abuse. The platform mentions that “every year, about one in ten seniors is a victim of crime, but many seniors are reluctant to report it – with only half of violent crimes against seniors reported to police, and only about a third of financial crimes being reported.”

KEY FACTS

• According to the National Initiative for the Care of the Elderly (2015) :

o the prevalence of elder abuse in Canada is 7.5%;
o the most frequent perpetrators are close family members;
o among the most significant risk factors for abuse are depression and having been abused at an earlier stage in life.