Human Resources Committee on Feb. 10th, 2023

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

The number I have is 8.1%, but my question is, what are the metrics? How did this decrease happen? Did it happen because of CERB? Did it happen for any other reason? I don't know the answer to that.

[Jean-François Tremblay]

Between 2015 and today, there have been a lot of measures put in place. The top-up on the GIS is one of them. There has been an increase in OAS pensions too, and other initiatives that contribute to making sure that seniors are not in poverty.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Can you table to this committee the report for us so we can...?

I would appreciate that. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Mrs. Roberts.

We have Mr. Van Bynen for six minutes, please.

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

First of all, thank you very much, Minister, for joining us today.

You have some real challenges ahead of you in your portfolio, and I commend your efforts in reaching out and speaking directly to the seniors who are impacted. In particular, we had a very successful meeting with a large number of seniors at the Aurora Seniors Centre just recently, so I'm sure you're finding that very informative in your challenges in terms of what we've commonly heard as “the grey tsunami”. That's going to add to the number of clients you'll be serving, but it will also aggravate the labour shortage of people who are serving an aging population. In fact, I'm sure you will have received a copy of our recent labour shortage study in the care economy.

Thank you for being here and sharing your information with us.

The pandemic shone a light on the tragic and awful conditions in long-term care facilities. Can you please outline how our government has stepped up to provide national leadership to improve the quality of care in long-term care facilities?

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Brampton West, ON]

Thank you so much, Tony.

Thanks for your leadership. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the work that you do. We were in your community not too long ago, in January, and it was a robust discussion with stakeholders and community members talking about the things that I know we need to do to support seniors.

In terms of long-term care, we all know that this pandemic has highlighted long-existing, uncomfortable truths and gaps in long-term care homes across Canada and how seniors were cared for within them. I know how extremely difficult that was for all Canadians. It was especially devastating for those living in long-term care homes, their families and those hard-working health care staff who cared for them.

Tony, you, of course, know this. I saw some of the challenges first-hand when I put my scrubs back on and returned to the front lines. In one of the hardest-hit long-term care homes in Ontario in my community of Brampton, I knew that we had to do more. I'm very happy to say that we did. We have been showing leadership on that front.

Just two weeks ago, we welcomed the release of long-term care standards by CSA and HSO. For committee members who may not know, they are the Health Standards Organization and the Canadian Standards Association. We provided funding to these organizations to support enhanced engagement on consultations.

Canadians can feel extremely confident that their voices are reflected in the new standards that have been announced. These new national standards provide guidance to long-term care homes to deliver safe, quality care while also making sure that we're providing support to health care workers.

More importantly, we are centred on the needs of residents. We're setting the bar high so that all seniors, regardless of where they live and where they are in the country, get the best care possible.

As you also may know, Tony, in budget 2021 we put aside $3 billion over the next five years to support provinces and territories in their efforts to improve and implement standards in long-term care. This is in addition to the $1 billion in the safe long-term care fund that we announced. I'm happy to say that every single province and territory has signed on to that agreement.

I want to be clear: This is not it. The release of the standards is not the end of the federal response. There's a lot more work. As has been announced just this last week on our funding, there's an awful lot of work to do, and we're committed to doing more work with provinces and territories to make sure that seniors, regardless of where they live in the country, get the best quality care, rooted in dignity, safety and respect.

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

I mentioned earlier that we just completed a study on the shortage of health care workers in the caring economy. Health care workers are the heart and soul of our health care system. They continue to go above and beyond to support Canadians every day.

Can you please inform the committee on the work you're doing to address the health care worker crisis that exists in Canada?

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Brampton West, ON]

Absolutely. You've raised an extremely important question.

As you know, our government is working extremely closely with partners, including labour and health care unions, to seek solutions to improve retention and recruitment. That's particularly for personal support workers, home care workers and essential workers involved in providing care for some of the most vulnerable Canadians.

Tony, you know this; you're applauding.

Earlier this week, we announced we're going to be providing $198.6 billion in additional federal funding over the next 10 years for improvements in health care. This includes planned increases to the Canada health transfer and new funding of $48 billion over the next 10 years. This is a major new investment that we're making to ensure that we're providing that support to provinces and territories.

We also know, and you know this as well, that money is not the answer. We need to make sure there are real, tangible results for Canadians. We will sign agreements with the provinces and territories to make sure that Canadians have access to family doctors and nurse practitioners and that there is support for people who power our health care system, as well as to reduce backlogs. We need to help people have good mental health and substance support, and ensure that health information is available where they are. I want to take a moment to recognize all of our tremendous health care workers—nurses, doctors and personal support workers.

We are also infusing $1.7 billion over the next five years to the provinces and territories to implement a goal of reaching a minimum of a $25 an hour for personal support workers. They have been working extremely hard over the pandemic and are really the forefront of supporting seniors in long-term care homes and in home care.

There's a lot of work ahead of us, but I'm really looking forward to making sure we provide support to those who have been providing support to us from the very beginning.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Mr. Van Bynen and Madam Minister.

Ms. Larouche, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for being here this morning, Madam Minister.

I do not know what to say when I hear that seniors are a priority for your government. You said you travelled across Canada. Did you come to Quebec?

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Brampton West, ON]

Yes, Madame Larouche, I've been to Quebec twice already in my two tours. I've been meeting with folks around the region, not just in the urban centres in Montreal but also in rural Quebec. I spent a lot of time there in the summer meeting with seniors organizations.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Okay.

I am surprised. Groups in Quebec, including the FADOQ, the Quebec federation of senior citizens, and the AQDR, the Quebec association defending the rights of pre-retirees and retirees, have unanimously said that seniors have clearly not been a priority for your government since it took office.

As recently as last fall, a study by the AQDR and the Observatoire québécois des inégalités, or Quebec observatory on inequalities, reported that half of seniors did not have sufficient income to live with dignity. We could again debate the issue of the 45,000 seniors who have been lifted out of poverty, because numbers can be manipulated to say what you want, but we are talking about income to live with dignity.

Furthermore, it is not just seniors aged 75 and over who do not have sufficient income. The numbers do not reflect the record inflation rate that is affecting the cost of groceries and housing. Nor do I want to hear that you have helped seniors by helping food banks. I think it shows a lack of respect for seniors to expect them to line up at food banks. Unlike the government, inflation does not discriminate against seniors according to their age. The study confirms that half of seniors do not have sufficient income.

What will it take for your government to treat seniors with respect? They built our society and certainly deserve to be treated fairly and with dignity. Separating seniors into groups aged 65 to 74 and 75 and over is not fair to them, Madam Minister.

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Brampton West, ON]

Thank you very much for your question.

Mr. Chair, through you, let me first and foremost reiterate to this committee and to seniors who are listening that my priority and our government's priority from the very beginning, since we took office back in 2015, has been to support seniors. We have done a number of things that I'm extremely proud of to support seniors from coast to coast to coast.

Mr. Chair, I'd like to go back and perhaps get into a little bit of detail on the measures we have taken forward.

As the honourable member knows, one of the very first things we as a government did was to restore the age of eligibility for old age security and the guaranteed income supplement back to 65. We then enhanced the guaranteed income supplement, which has helped over 900,000 people, some of the most vulnerable seniors, the majority of whom are single women, and that has lifted 45,000 seniors out of poverty. We've also enhanced the Canada pension plan, which will actually help future retirees, because we need to make sure we're also taking care of those who will be retiring soon.

It's also important to recognize, Mr. Chair, that—

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Madam Minister, I do not have much time. You have already talked about the measures.

You said you lifted seniors out of poverty. As to the GIS, the guaranteed income supplement, anyone with an income over $20,831 cannot even claim it. Given the current rate of inflation, can you say that a person can live with dignity on $20,831 in 2022?

You talked about priorities. During the pandemic, we had to come to Ottawa regularly to ask questions because you were helping everyone except seniors. You finally offered seniors a cheque for $300, or $500 for those receiving the GIS. Do you think that is making seniors a priority?

You let half of seniors down. Your 10% increase to old age security for seniors 75 and over means that half of seniors did not see any increase in their income.

I do not think poverty waits for people to turn 75. I do not think that everyone under the age of 75 is able to work. Do you really want to force seniors back into the labour market? For all kinds of reasons, some of them are not in a position to work.

I am asking you again: why did you create two classes of seniors? With the rates of inflation we are seeing, all the studies have shown that people on a fixed income are the most vulnerable, including seniors who receive OAS.

Why do you discriminate on the basis of age? I would like a 30-second answer.

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Brampton West, ON]

With all due respect to my colleague, Mr. Chair, first and foremost I want to clarify something.

All the benefits the Government of Canada has put forward to support seniors, whether the old age security pension, the guaranteed income supplement or the Canada pension plan, are indexed with respect to the increase in the cost of living and increased global inflation. These numbers and seniors—

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Madam Minister, during the pandemic, there were seniors whose pension was indexed by an amount that would not even buy a coffee at Tim Hortons. It is the FADOQ that is saying this, not me. The indexing method no longer works in 2023 and it does not properly reflect rising costs.

Seniors are writing to my office. They are getting a few extra dollars on their cheques. They are insulted. We also have to talk again about how the GIS pension indexing is calculated.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Ms. Larouche.

Madam Minister, could you give us a short answer, please?

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Brampton West, ON]

Again, Mr. Chair, through you, I would like to reiterate the fact that all the benefits that the Government of Canada has put forward, particularly old security and guaranteed income supplement, are indexed to inflation. They actually increase with the cost of living quarterly, every few months.

As you also know, Mr. Chair, when we returned last fall, one of the first things we as a government put forward was support targeted to Canadians who need it the most. That's why we doubled the GST credit, which puts on average an additional $225 in the pockets of Canadian seniors. We've also delivered a $500 one-time top-up to the Canada housing benefit for low-income renters. I've spoken to many seniors in my own community who have benefited from that.

We've also launched, Mr. Chair, an affordable—$20 per month—high-speed Internet plan for low-income seniors who are on the guaranteed income supplement.

I'm sure I'll get to a point where I'll be able to answer a question in full and to talk about all the measures that we have put forward to make sure seniors, regardless of where they live in the country, have the supports they need for financial security. Strengthening their financial security has been a priority for us, and we're going to make sure we deliver for them.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Minister.

Madame Zarrillo, go ahead for six minutes, please.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I thank the minister for coming to committee today.

The minister mentioned three pillars today. The top two were financial security and aging at home. I want to talk about the most vulnerable seniors, who are intersecting between not having enough financial security and not being able to age at home. More of them are finding themselves homeless.

Recently, I was out visiting the Lookout Society, which provides a shelter and emergency housing here in my community. More and more seniors need this service. On top of that, I was at a local seniors housing development yesterday. They want to expand their ability to offer housing to seniors. They have put forward some bids for projects in our community. They're finding themselves unable to keep up with the number of seniors in my area of Vancouver who need rent under $1,200 a month, or even $1,400. They'd like to be able to do it, but it just doesn't exist. Minister, my question is around this fact.

The other thing I want to add is that seniors who have gone into hospital and have been discharged have lost their homes because they couldn't afford to pay the rent. These are the things happening in my community in the Vancouver area.

My question is about poverty and seniors. What statistics are being used to measure the seniors living below the poverty line, and how are you going to fix it?

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Brampton West, ON]

Thank you for the question, first and foremost.

Let me start by talking about affordable housing for seniors.

First, I agree with you completely, Ms. Zarrillo, in terms of the many Canadian seniors who face incredible challenges when it comes to housing. These challenges are of course exacerbated by escalating housing prices, the aging housing stock, inadequate supply and a growing senior population.

As you know, Ms. Zarrillo, helping seniors access affordable housing and stay in their homes and communities are top priorities for our government. We've done many things. You'll also be hearing from my colleague, the Minister of Housing, with whom I work extremely closely.

Canada's first-ever housing strategy, created by this government back in 2017, is helping seniors access affordable housing and stay in their own homes and communities. It will reduce the number of seniors in need of housing through $13.2 billion from the national housing co-investment fund. This fund is expected to create at least 7,000 new affordable housing units for seniors. This is going to support much-needed renovations, including improved accessibility to allow seniors to age in place, and it—

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Minister, if you don't mind, I don't have much time, and you're hitting on the topic I'd like to talk about: that co-investment fund.

I've been meeting with not-for-profits in my community that supply affordable housing for seniors, and they do not have the expertise or capacity to manage that. Can you give us an idea of other kinds of supports? Sometimes they need logistical support, expertise or architects who can help them with renovations. What kinds of supports are available? Yes, they can apply for the grants. They have the capacity in the community, such as the land or the building, but they don't necessarily have the expertise to make it happen.

How will the government support those not-for-profits that don't necessarily have the expertise to renovate or build housing?

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Brampton West, ON]

Absolutely, I think that's a very important question.

As I mentioned, my colleague who holds this portfolio, the Minister of Housing, will also be appearing before the committee.

There are a number of things I want to highlight that we're addressing in terms of the two parts of your question. When you talk about aging at home and aging in their own communities as long as possible, which is something I've heard is extremely important for seniors, there are a few things we're doing on that front.

First, as you may know, Madame Zarrillo, we put billions of dollars into home care for the provinces and territories, which was reiterated in the announcement on health transfers just this week.

I also want to talk about an initiative that we put forward, which is the “age well at home” initiative. This provides practical supports to some of those lowest-income vulnerable seniors. It provides them with....

Ms. Zarrillo, you may know this, and this is something I've heard from talking to seniors. It's that sometimes it's something very practical that prevents seniors from leaving their own home in their community, whether it is shovelling their driveway or someone coming and giving them a good meal or giving them a ride to pick up their prescription medication or such things.

In budget 2021, we put aside $19 million over three years for the “age well at home” initiative. We actually launched the call for proposals for this program last year. We will have more to say this year about those organizations that have received funding.

Another thing that we've done, Madame Zarrillo, is that just a few months ago, both the Minister of Health and I tasked our National Seniors Council to serve as an expert panel on what an aging-at- home benefit could look like. They're working tremendously hard on this fund, and I'll come back to this committee again to showcase some of the results of that study as well.

As you know, in the last budget we also put in other measures, doubling the home accessibility credit and introducing the multi-generational home renovation tax credit. These measures were in the budget to make sure that those living with disabilities and those seniors who want to stay in their own communities and their own homes for as long as possible get that support. We are always looking at different ways to support them.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Thank you.

I wanted to talk a little bit about the $500 rental subsidy. I'm wondering—

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Make it a short question, please.