Housing or living at home were key issues for all the focus groups, both in Quebec, as part of pilot projects, and in other parts of Canada or in towns elsewhere in the world. According to the prevailing models in Canada and Quebec, living at home usually means living in an apartment where we have always lived only to spend our last days in a nursing home.
There are several types of apartments, several possible approaches, but it hasn't been thought out. There is not enough research on ways to live at home properly, in a specific environment, and to avoid ending up in some sort of home for seniors. There is a lack of research, but there is also a lack of funding for well-designed social housing that would include units that go beyond option A or B. For the time being, there is nothing between the two. We really need to give this some thought and make services and housing of that type available. We need funding programs for social housing.
I didn't use much time for my presentation because there was an issue with the time indicated on the screen. Therefore, I would like to tell you that, as part of focus groups, we have received written accounts from people from virtually every town. Some of them were telling us that they were 80 years old, and that the pension fund they had contributed to would allow them to live until they turned 86. They were asking what would happen to them if they were to live a healthy life until 90. They said they could not stay in their current apartment that cost $1,000, $1,200 or $1,300 per month.
So, we need to give some serious thought to the living at home issue—which is a social phenomenon—and invest in that area.