Status of Women Committee on Feb. 21st, 2019

[Charles MacArthur]

I don't understand the question. I understand what the statements—

[Phil McColeman]

That's okay. Let me move on. I have lots to do.

I chaired a national housing round table. We had them once a month for the four years prior to this Parliament. We brought in a lot of people from what I would call the public and non-profit sector to give us their thoughts on the solutions they saw to the barriers to people being able to access affordable housing. Several of the top organizations said that if you really want to reach more people, portable subsidies work way better. The U.K. has moved to that model for individuals who qualify. What are CMHC's views on that?

[Charles MacArthur]

I don't have a view on portable subsidies, but I do have a view on the Canada housing benefit, which will be implemented in 2020. We're currently working with our provincial and territorial partners to implement it. This will provide $2,500 on an annual basis to up to 300,000 recipients. It will go directly to individuals.

[Phil McColeman]

It will go directly to individuals, so they can go out and select the kind of housing they want to live in.

[Charles MacArthur]

As I said, we're doing the design work right now. We're making sure it aligns well with what's out there now, and what provinces and cities have. Depending on where you are in the country, there are different pieces.

We want it to be additive, so that it is helpful, as opposed to replacing money that is already there.

[Phil McColeman]

When we were in government, we started the Housing First initiative. The Housing First initiative took into play all the things around individuals who face barriers to getting into affordable housing. Many other issues need to be taken care of, and they were referred to here. This government, thankfully, has taken that initiative forward, Housing First.

How does Housing First fit in with your goal of—I have to read it again, because it's quite a statement—every Canadian being able to afford a house that meets their needs in 10 years, roughly 11 years from now?

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Phil, I'm sorry. We honestly don't have time for that question. Perhaps we can get back to it.

I'm going to pass the floor over to Mark.

Mark, you and Terry have the floor for five minutes.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Thank you very much.

I represent a riding, Kingston, in which we have the lowest vacancy rate in Ontario, and arguably in the country. We desperately need housing, and in particular affordable housing, as a result of having such a low vacancy rate.

Having said that, I've had the opportunity to work with housing providers, both of them in the Kingston area, and through that work, to have worked with CMHC and the various programs that have come along through the years for building affordable housing.

The national affordable housing strategy that has been introduced, using the $11 billion from the federal government, has the potential to leverage $40 billion nationally. The criticism that has come as a result of it is, “We need the money now. It all has to come right now.”

How would CMHC respond if a cheque arrived for $40 billion and it was told to spend that money immediately? How would that situation impact the individual not-for-profit housing corporations? In particular, how would they manage it?

[Charles MacArthur]

I'll refer to the statement the gentleman made, that it takes seven years. It takes time to build these projects. Groups need to get back up to speed; they haven't been building for a number of years. There is capacity. As I said, we have programs to help with that—just repurposing some old ones.

Then we need to make sure there's money in the pipeline as they go, because it's not all one. We're going to be there with them when they break ground, when they put the windows in and when they close the building; and we're going to be there with them for 20 years after the fact.

Housing is built over a period of time, so we need to have the cash flows. The groups that have not done anything in 20 years are gearing up. While we have some great projects coming to the door, we get some for which we have to go back out and work with folks, because it's not quite ready and we have to do some work to get it there.

Having it flow in that manner is consistent with the way the construction happens.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Thank you.

[Terry Duguid, Liberal, Winnipeg South, MB]

Madam Chair, thank you.

It's great to see ESDC and CMHC friends. I had the great privilege of working with some of you in my first year in Parliament as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Social Development.

I was in fact at the meeting in which Evan Siddall first threw out the idea of a set-aside for women and girls, which we then implemented in policy and in the budget. I'm interested in how we're tracking and monitoring to ensure that we're doing what we say we will do.

The other issue a number of colleagues are interested in is why universal design isn't mandatory. Thinking 20 or 30 years down the line, we would have to retrofit anyway. This is pushing that efficiency up front. I know we have those kinds of provisions for LEED buildings, green buildings and that sort of thing.

Then I have a question for Ms. Holden regarding senior centres and the battle against loneliness, particularly among senior women. I see it very strongly in my own community. Seniors' centres are popping up. They can barely pay their expenses; they're really struggling. Do you have any suggestions for supporting these centres? A $25,000 grant just doesn't cut it.

An organization that will be appearing before us, Pembina Active Living, has just received one. They're delighted and are going to do good things with it, but we really need more of these centres, to have, as they say, “a place to go, a place to grow.”

[Charles MacArthur]

I'll start with the universal design. It's a good idea. It works. Those who are building new have the opportunity to build for the future. One of the objectives of the national housing strategy is to create a new generation of housing for Canadians, as our forefathers and foremothers did before us. They did that for us, and now it's our opportunity to do that.

With regard to how we track, we ask, “Whom is this going to serve, and how is it going to serve them?” In fact, our team just came back from meeting with 50 women's organizations across the country from all areas, and with some 75 folks with lived experience, to make sure what tweaks need to be made. It's not a set-and-forget. We really want solutions. We heard some of the senior women saying that it would be good to have a place that has kids and families in it.

So.... Oh, sorry.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

No, please finish.

[Charles MacArthur]

I saw you.... I'm afraid.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

You have 10 more seconds. Go for it.

[Charles MacArthur]

So, we have it and we're asking the questions, and we're also asking the users what that means, whether it's garden space or whatever.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Excellent. Thank you very much.

We're now going to suspend so we can switch panels. We'll suspend for three minutes and start once again at 9:45 a.m.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Welcome back to the 131st meeting of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women.

For the second hour, we are pleased to welcome, from the Department for Women and Gender Equality, Danielle Bélanger, Director of Strategic Policy, Policy and External Relations Directorate.

As well, from the health promotion and chronic disease prevention branch of the Public Health Agency of Canada, we have Anna Romano, Director General of the Centre for Health Promotion, and Franca Gatto, Director of the Aging, Seniors and Dementia Division.

From Statistics Canada, we have Anne Milan, Chief of the Labour Statistics Division, and Sébastien Larochelle-Côté, Editor-in-Chief of Insights on Canadian Society.

Thank you very much for coming.

We will start with seven minutes for Ms. Bélanger. You have the floor.

[Danielle Bélanger, Director, Strategic Policy, Policy and External Relations Branch, Department for Women and Gender Equality]

Good morning. I'm Danielle Bélanger, Director of Strategic Policy with the new Department for Women and Gender Equality.

Thank you very much for having me here today. I welcome the opportunity to appear before the committee to talk about senior women in Canada and how our department is working to address some of the challenges they face.

On December 13, 2018, the Department for Women and Gender Equality Act received royal assent, which transformed the former Status of Women Canada into the Department for Women and Gender Equality. This brought with it an expanded mandate for the new department for all matters relating to women and gender equality, including the advancement of social, economic and political equality, with respect to sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression.

The department plays a central policy role in ensuring a more inclusive and equal society for all Canadians, and in the mainstreaming of the gender and diversity lens, also known as gender-based analysis plus, GBA+.

While we have witnessed advances in gender equality in recent years, women and LGBTQ2 communities continue to face social and economic disparities. These challenges become more acute when we account for other diversity factors, such as age. Senior women account for 55% of the senior population of Canada, yet they're among the most vulnerable in the country.

As the population of seniors continues to grow, so have the social and income gaps of Canada's most marginalized and vulnerable populations of seniors. For example, senior women are more likely than men to experience income disparity. Despite the increased participation of women in the labour market over the last several decades, factors such as the persistent gender wage gap, women being more likely to take on part-time and unpaid work, and the burden of caregiving continue to impact the economic participation of women, with lingering economic impacts well into old age.

The challenges that senior women face are further compounded by other intersecting factors, such as race, ethnicity, disability, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, citizenship status and living in a rural or remote area, to name a few. For instance, indigenous women face higher rates of economic insecurity and health challenges. About 49% of indigenous senior women are low-income, and one in ten has reported experiencing food insecurity. We also know that LGBTQ2 adults are at greater risk of physical and mental illness due to discrimination and harassment.

As was mentioned earlier, social isolation is a reality experienced by many seniors, particularly LGBTQ2 seniors. Due to a history of discrimination, exclusion and fear of stigmatization, not all LGBTQ2 seniors wish to come out openly or be included in the LGBTQ2 community. For many, moving into a seniors' residence often means going back into the closet for fear of being misunderstood or mistreated.

While some seniors experience discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, adding in other forms of discrimination based on age or physical or mental abilities compounds their isolation and vulnerability. This has a direct impact on their health.

Senior women and members of the LGBTQ2 community are also more likely to experience gender-based violence. In 2017, females accounted for over half, or 58%, of senior victims of family violence, and those senior females were most often victimized by a spouse—in 32% of cases. As with homicides in general, the non-family homicide rate was higher for male seniors than for female seniors. In contrast, however, rates of family-related homicides of female seniors were double those of senior males, at 4.4 victims per million.

Our department has worked to address these persistent challenges. In 2017, Canada launched “It's Time: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence” to address gaps in support for diverse populations, including seniors. The strategy focuses on three pillars: prevention, support for survivors and their families, and promotion of responsive legal and justice systems.

Again, one of the central policy roles of the Department for Women and Gender Equality is around the mainstreaming of the gender and diversity lens, the gender-based analysis plus, known as GBA+. In this important role, we work to support other federal departments to ensure that policies and programs being implemented consider impacts on all Canadians.

This includes making sure we have appropriate data and research to support decision-making, developing training and tools to facilitate gender-based analysis, and tracking and reporting on progress towards these important goals. To that end, a new survey was launched in 2018, called the “Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces”. The information gathered by the survey will fill an important data gap by providing a more complete and inclusive picture of the realities of gender-based violence in Canada. Results are expected to be published in November 2019.

In order to achieve gender equality for all Canadians, and in every stage of life, we must consider the best ways to support senior women and LGBTQ2 people, while also ensuring we do better to provide the best chances to enable younger women and members of the LGBTQ2 community to successfully transition into older ages.

In closing, I would like to highlight that there is much work to be done in advancing gender equality. The formalization of the Department for Women and Gender Equality presents a historic opportunity to tackle head-on challenges to inclusive social and economic growth.

Again, thank you for the opportunity to speak here today on these important barriers. I would be happy to answer any questions you have.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Excellent.

Now we're going to pass the floor over to Anne Milan. You have seven minutes.

[Anne Milan, Chief, Labour Statistics Division, Statistics Canada]

Thank you for having us here today. My colleague Sébastien Larochelle-Côté and I are pleased to be here this morning on behalf of Statistics Canada to share data and analysis regarding what we currently know about the challenges facing senior women, where gaps exist in our data holdings and how we could potentially address these gaps.

We know that the senior population is growing quickly and that women are overrepresented among those aged 65 and over. Between 2011 and 2015, the number of seniors grew 20%, four times the growth rate for all age groups. With increasing life expectancy, people will be spending about two decades, on average, as seniors.

It should be noted that, while Canada does have an aging population, it has the second-lowest proportion of seniors among the G7 countries, after the United States. The share in Canada is below Japan, Italy, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. In fact, you may recall that in the United Kingdom, last year, their Prime Minister added “loneliness” to the Ministry for Sport and Civil Society. This highlighted a recognition that there's a need to combat the social and health issues caused by isolation.

Loneliness is certainly a reality for many people, which is why there's such interest in those who are living on their own. Women represent the majority of seniors living alone, although the share has fallen over the past several decades. In contrast, women are more likely to be part of a couple until older ages, and this is primarily because men are living longer. This could result in more social and physical support.

The current generation of senior women, similar to all generations, is a product of the socio-historical context in which particular cohorts have lived. Some younger seniors today are members of the large baby boom generation, while older seniors were born prior to World War II. This context will shape many of the experiences throughout their lives in areas such as family formation, gender roles and participation in the labour market. As younger generations grow older, greater diversity can be expected when these cohorts reach their senior years.

While we recognize that seniors are a heterogenous group, with younger seniors generally being more active and healthier than older seniors, there are greater needs as they age. For example, demand for residential care increases with age, and this disproportionately affects senior women. In 2016, at age 85 and over, there are three times as many women compared with men living in collective dwellings such as residences for seniors and nursing homes.

Senior women not living with family members have a number of vulnerabilities, including a higher likelihood of being below the poverty line. According to Statistics Canada's market basket measure, which is Canada's official poverty line, senior women who lived alone or with non-family members in 2016 were about twice as likely to be below the poverty line, compared with all senior women.

The incidence of poverty and low income can be exacerbated by other characteristics, such as the presence of a disability, aboriginal status and immigrant status. However, poverty does tend to decrease during the senior years, largely because of government programs such as GIS and OAS. Without these two programs, the poverty rate of seniors would be five times larger than it is now. Government programs also contribute to reducing the intensity of poverty.

Another significant issue is whether seniors have enough savings. According to the survey of financial security, the median net worth of unattached senior women was slightly over a quarter of a million dollars in 2016, compared with $264,000 among unattached senior men, and $730,000 among senior couples. The lack of savings can be problematic, especially if seniors require care over a long period of time. The financial situation of senior women can also vary depending on their marital status. For example, a widow may have greater financial resources than a divorced woman.

Senior women, particularly those who live alone, might not participate as much as they would like, given that they have less access to a vehicle. Without access to a car or public transport, it can be more difficult to go out, which may be why senior women are less likely than senior men to meet the minimum requirements for physical activity. On the other hand, seniors with a car and driver's licence are more likely to do volunteer work. Seniors with disabilities, including mobility problems, are particularly more likely to face transportation challenges.

The social networks of seniors can play a key role in their well-being and can be a source of emotional and practical support. Senior women are more likely to receive paid or unpaid help with daily activities than senior men, and transportation is the most common form of unpaid help. Senior women are more apt to receive unpaid help from their daughters, while for senior men it more often comes from their spouse. This also has consequences for working-age women who have to manage these responsibilities.

About twice as many senior women have unmet home care needs compared with senior men. In terms of absolute numbers, this is the largest age and sex group. As a proportion of those who reported that they needed home care, however, the share of senior women who had unmet home care needs was in the 30% range, compared with over 50% for women aged 35 to 49.

Although they do face some challenges that we have highlighted, it's also important to keep in mind that senior women reported relatively high levels of life satisfaction and good health, regardless of whether they lived alone or with others. Among seniors who lived alone, women were more likely to be satisfied with life and to be in good health compared with men.

In closing, we do have some rich sources of data to examine the challenges facing senior women. We also have data forthcoming from a number of surveys that will help shed light on issues of interest to this committee. Building on these datasets through linkages with administrative data would allow us to more fully examine some important issues affecting senior women.

However, some key gaps exist in our administrative data. For example, there's little information on people living in residential care facilities. These seniors may face different challenges than those who are still living in their homes. We know little about the type of care received, health conditions, housing costs and social interactions of residents in such institutions. Policy-makers would no doubt benefit from additional data on this topic.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. We look forward to your questions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you very much.

Finally, we are going to hear from Anna Romano. She's the Director General for Health Promotion at the Public Health Agency of Canada.

You have the floor for seven minutes.

[Anna Romano, Director General, Centre for Health Promotion, Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada]

Thank you for the invitation to address this committee. I'm pleased to contribute to your study by speaking about the role of the Public Health Agency of Canada in addressing challenges faced by senior women.

Starting with the current public health picture, the fact that more Canadians are living longer is a public health triumph. The aging population also means that the prevalence of chronic diseases is expected to increase. With advances in treatment and management of diseases, persons aged 65 years and older are likely to live longer with one or more chronic conditions. I'm going to go over those now.

In terms of dementia, while dementia is not a normal part of aging, age is the strongest known risk factor for dementia. Dementia disproportionately impacts Canadian women, and the majority of family/friend caregivers of people with dementia are female. Women aged 65 years and older are more likely than men to be diagnosed with dementia. Given Canada's aging population, the number of people diagnosed with dementia is expected to increase. It is projected that by 2031 the total annual health care cost for Canadians with dementia will have doubled.

While many seniors maintain good mental health, mental illnesses later in life often occur within the context of life transitions, losses, chronic illness, disability or social isolation. Senior women are more likely than men to use health services for mood and anxiety disorders. Senior women are also disproportionately affected by musculoskeletal conditions. They are about four times more likely to be diagnosed with osteoporosis than men. Fractures, the primary complication of osteoporosis, are higher among women than men, and women are approximately two times more likely to fracture a hip. In addition, women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and 1.5 times as likely to be diagnosed with osteoarthritis.

Falls have a significant physical and mental health consequence for older adults and families and threaten independent living. Falls are the leading cause of older adult traumatic brain injury; 20% to 30% of seniors experience at least one fall each year. Of those seniors who experience a fall, close to 20% will die within one year of the fall. Older women, particularly those over 75 years of age, experience higher rates of fall-related injuries and hospitalizations than men.

In terms of what the Public Health Agency of Canada is doing with our investments and initiatives, I'll start with surveillance. In collaboration with provinces and territories, the agency conducts national chronic disease surveillance to support the development and evaluation of related policies, programs and services. We're currently developing a report on seniors aged 65 years and older that will provide a snapshot of their health. As much as possible, data will be disaggregated by sex to highlight patterns unique to women and men. The report is expected to be released in 2020.

In 2018, the Government of Canada invested $75 million in the healthy seniors pilot project in New Brunswick to fund a range of applied research initiatives that will provide useful information for governments and stakeholders across the country on how to better support seniors in their homes, communities and care facilities. This will help us to better understand the different challenges that women and men face.

The agency also works closely with provinces and territories, as well as the World Health Organization, on the age-friendly communities initiative. Under the AFC initiative, older adults and community leaders are working together in more than 1,200 communities across Canada to create supportive physical and social environments so that seniors can live safely, enjoy good health and be active. The agency has developed tools to help communities implement and evaluate AFC initiatives.

More recently, in 2019, PHAC announced funding of $250,000 to Parachute Canada for its pan-Canadian seniors' fall prevention network. This is a project in collaboration with other organizations. Parachute Canada will create an online hub for individuals and health professionals, making it easier for them to find tools, resources and information related to fall prevention and recovery.

In terms of the dementia file, starting in 2019, the dementia community investment is a new program that will provide $4 million per year to support community-based projects to improve the well-being of people living with dementia, as well as the family members and/or friends who care for them. The Public Health Agency is also leading the development of a national dementia strategy. The strategy is expected to be released in spring 2019.

The pan-Canadian health inequalities reporting initiative aims to strengthen the measurement, monitoring and reporting of health inequalities in Canada through improved access to data.

As part of this initiative, an interactive, publicly accessible data tool was developed. The tool can be found online, and it includes 70 indicators for health for up to 13 different socio-economic and socio-demographic population groups. The data tool currently provides rates by age group and by sex for indicators meaningful to seniors' health, such as those related to housing, health care, food insecurity and community belonging. Additional data on health inequalities among seniors is expected to be made available in 2020.

PHAC is also systematically applying the Government of Canada's renewed commitment to sex and gender-based analysis, SGBA+, which my colleague Danielle referenced. We're applying this to our science, policies and programs to consider the potential differential impacts on diverse groups of men and women, girls and boys.

In conclusion, we know that the needs of senior women are diverse. Some may need extra support to stay in their homes and to find the appropriate services to enable them to do so. Some need access to activities or programs that help them stay active and involved in their communities. Many senior women are interested in finding ways to maintain and improve both their physical and mental health.

Thank you for your attention. I'd be pleased to answer any questions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Excellent. Thank you very much.

I'll just remind the committee that we do have about five minutes of business that we'll have to discuss, so take that into consideration as we go forward with our questions.

We will begin the seven-minute questions with Salma Zahid.