Status of Women Committee on April 21st, 2026

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Iqra Khalid]

I call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 33 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, the committee will resume its study on the abuse and financial vulnerability of senior women.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the Standing Orders. Members are attending in person in the room and remotely using the Zoom application.

I have, quickly, a number of housekeeping items.

Please wait for me to recognize you before speaking. For those participating by video conference, click on the microphone icon to activate your mic, and please mute yourself when you are not speaking. At the bottom of your screen, you can select your language of preference, which would be English or French. If you wish to speak, please raise your hand. For those on Zoom, please use the “raise hand” function. I remind you that all comments should be addressed through the chair.

Before we get into our meeting today, I want to go through some housekeeping.

We need to approve a couple of study budgets. There were two study budgets distributed yesterday to all members. These were for $500 each. They are for the study of the main estimates 2026-27—our meeting on May 7—and the study of the subject matter of Bill C-16, which is today's meeting.

Do members approve the two budgets proposed to you guys?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Iqra Khalid]

Okay, that's great.

Also, we're looking at the study of anti-feminist ideology. Version one was presented to members on April 17. The committee will consider the report on Thursday this week, and again for one hour on Thursday, April 30.

Are members okay with that?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Iqra Khalid]

Could members please send in their recommendations, in both languages, for this report by noon on Monday, April 27, so the analysts can prepare their recommendations? Is that okay with members?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Iqra Khalid]

Okay.

At this time, I will introduce our speakers.

I welcome our witnesses. By video conference, we have Bénédicte Schoepflin, executive director, Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse. We are also in anticipation of having Deborah Rose, Edmonton Aboriginal Seniors Centre, and Loriane Estienne, director general, Proche aidance Québec.

We'll start with opening remarks from the Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, for five minutes.

Please go ahead, Ms. Schoepflin.

[Bénédicte Schoepflin, Executive Director, Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse]

Thank you so much. I hope everybody can hear me.

Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity to appear today. My name is Bénédicte Schoepflin, and I'm the executive director of the Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, often known as CNPEA. CNPEA is a national organization that is working to prevent the mistreatment of older adults and to advance their rights and their well-being across the country.

In Canada, approximately one in 10 older adults experiences some form of mistreatment each year, and we know that this number is an underestimation. Older women are disproportionately affected, particularly when you consider the intersection of gender, age, potential disability, caregiving roles and economic insecurity, among other factors. The abuse of older women in Canada is often hidden, under-reported and insufficiently represented or addressed in policy. As our population ages, these gaps risk leaving more women without the safety, autonomy and dignity they deserve.

Economic abuse, or what we often call financial abuse, is a key concern. It includes things such as the misuse of powers of attorney and undue influence, and it's often a mechanism for coercive control. It restricts access to financial resources and undermines autonomy. For many older women, it might lead to reduced access to care and medication, to housing instability and to long-term financial insecurity.

Like most forms of abuse in later life, financial abuse often occurs in a relationship of trust. It takes place at the hands of partners but also adult children, caregivers and others in positions of authority. These dynamics are shaped by dependency, by social isolation and, in some cases, by cognitive decline. It is frequently linked with psychological abuse, coercive control and social isolation.

Of course, when we are thinking about these issues, we also have to remember they're compounded by broader systemic gaps. Older women remain largely invisible in gender-based violence frameworks, including in the national action plan to end gender-based violence. Canada generally lacks a coordinated national framework to monitor and address elder abuse across systems. There are also critical gaps when it comes to supports and safety. For instance, nowadays many shelters or transition housing options are not adapted to the needs of older women, particularly if they have any mobility challenges or care needs. As a result, many women are left with no viable option but to remain in unsafe situations.

Addressing these challenges requires a coordinated prevention-focused approach that reflects the realities of older adults, especially older women, and strengthened systems across the sectors. Based on our work across Canada, we would like to highlight a few key priorities. There are more in our written submissions. I hope to get a chance to talk about some of them.

First, establish a coordinated federal approach to elder abuse prevention. This includes a framework for data collection, for monitoring and for cross-sector collaboration.

Second, invest in prevention and public awareness. This means having sustained, accessible education to address ageism, to end elder abuse and to build capacity across communities to help recognize, respond to and prevent mistreatment, including financial abuse.

Third, strengthen safety support systems. This means expanding access to safe and appropriate housing options, legal assistance and community-based senior services.

Fourth, increase support for aging at home and support for caregivers, recognizing the essential role that caregivers play, as well as the risks that can arise in situations of dependency. Many situations of abuse occur in contexts of stress, dependency and lack of support, so strengthening caregiving systems is essential to the prevention of mistreatment and abuse of older women.

Fifth, ensure that federal initiatives adopt an intersectional approach. This means explicitly addressing the experiences of older women within the national action plan to end GBV, as well as integrating dementia-informed and disability-inclusive approaches.

At its core, the issue is not just about protection. It's about dignity, autonomy and the right to live free from abuse at every age.

Older women are not a homogeneous group—there is no such thing—and they are not defined by vulnerability. They are rights holders whose experiences, voices and leadership must be reflected in the policies and systems that affect them.

We cannot afford to treat abuse in later life as a private issue or an afterthought any longer. Of course, the CNPEA stands ready to work with federal partners to advance solutions to ensure that older people and older women in Canada can live free from abuse.

Thank you. I look forward to your questions.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Iqra Khalid]

Thank you very much for those remarks.

Now we'll move on to our next witness, Loriane Estienne, for five minutes, please.

[Loriane Estienne, Director General, Proche aidance Québec]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Good morning, members of the committee.

My name is Loriane Estienne. I am the Executive Director of Proche aidance Québec, a provincial network of around 150 community organizations that support more than 49,000 family caregivers across Quebec. With over 25 years of experience, our network's mission is to provide dignified support to people caring for a family member with a disability.

I would like to thank the committee for inviting us to contribute to this important study. We are here today because family caregiving is at the heart of this study, not only as a risk factor that is too often overlooked, but also as an essential yet fragile protective mechanism.

I'll start with a fundamental distinction. In Quebec, the 2020 Act to recognize and support caregivers provides a broad and inclusive definition.

Thus, a family caregiver is any person who provides significant support—without being a paid professional—to a member of his or her immediate circle, whether due to aging, illness, disability, or social hardship.

At the federal level, recognition remains primarily tied to access to benefits, which often involve cumbersome and complex procedures for family caregivers and are subject to more restrictive eligibility criteria. This discrepancy creates significant blind spots, namely the lack of broader recognition of family caregiving as a reality in its own right and an essential social role. Access to federal programs remains limited to specific situations, leaving out a significant portion of people who nevertheless fulfill this role.

Caregiving takes many forms, which are still insufficiently accounted for in the design of current programs. First, caregiving may lead to financial vulnerability. [Technical difficulty—Editor] and we wanted to highlight a less visible aspect. For many family caregivers, these [Technical difficulty—Editor] make it hard to fulfill their role. Family caregiving is often seen as an act of love, and it is.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Iqra Khalid]

I'm sorry. I'm going to pause for a second. I believe the interpretation is not really coming through at this time.

Your sound is breaking up. Why don't you try moving your boom upwards a bit?

[Loriane Estienne]

Is that better?

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Iqra Khalid]

Yes, it is. Please continue.

[Loriane Estienne]

Family caregiving is often seen as an act of love, and it is. However, all too often, it also leads to financial hardship. Those involved [Technical difficulty—Editor] food, personal care products and home modifications. These expenses are not accounted for or reimbursed anywhere.

Of course, there are also financial repercussions: reduced working hours, temporary or permanent job loss. [Technical difficulty—Editor] cover only 55% of a person's earnings and only for a limited time. That revenue loss has to be made up somehow. For a family caregiver, [Technical difficulty—Editor] pension entitlement, less financial capital—

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Iqra Khalid]

I'm so sorry.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Madam Chair, can we suspend for a few minutes to check the witness's Internet connection?

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Iqra Khalid]

There is a connection problem. I'll ask you to work with our IT team to see if your connection can be a bit better, because we're missing half of what you're saying.

I will suspend for a minute to figure it out.

Thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Iqra Khalid]

I will bring this meeting back to order.

Ms. Estienne, you still have almost three minutes. Please go ahead.

[Loriane Estienne]

Okay.

I'll go back to my first point.

The financial insecurity of older adults was well documented, but we wanted to add a more visible dimension. We have to ask ourselves whether this insecurity began well before retirement.

Caregiving is often seen as an act of love, which it is, but it often leads to financial hardship, and those involved bear very significant costs such as transportation, food and home modifications. These costs aren't accounted for, and people aren't compensated for them. Added to this are income-related consequences, such as reduced working hours, temporary or permanent job loss, and benefits that cover 55% of wages and are only available for a limited time. That gap needs to be filled. When an older adult becomes a family caregiver—which is very common—they face multiple vulnerabilities. Family caregiving does not merely provide support; it also exposes caregivers to real financial risks.

Second, family caregivers are an essential defence against abuse, yet they are becoming increasingly vulnerable. Family caregivers play a front-line role in preventing elder abuse because of their regular presence. They enable early detection of abuse, help the person with administrative and financial matters, and reduce the risk of fraud. However, this protective role is conditional on the family caregiver being supported. A caregiver who is exhausted and financially precarious and who lacks official recognition of their role cannot maintain perfect vigilance. In some cases, they themselves may become the target. Caregiver exhaustion and isolation can also create conditions for unintentional abuse or make it easier for an abusive third party to target the older adult. Neglecting family caregivers weakens the only human safety net available to many older adults.

Third, this is an unavoidable societal issue, and this troubling situation will get worse in our rapidly aging population. The number of family caregivers is growing rapidly. Their profiles are becoming more diverse. They include working members of the “sandwich generation,” older adults who are themselves caregivers, and those providing long-term care. These individuals make an immense contribution to enabling seniors to remain in their homes. They directly alleviate pressure on health care systems, and there's no denying that our system needs this. Society benefits, but family caregivers often continue to pay the price.

In conclusion, this is a decisive moment for the federal government. Income support programs for caregivers must be accessible, flexible and grounded in real-life experiences, particularly those of women, who make up the majority of family caregivers and whose numbers are growing as caregiving situations become more burdensome and demanding. This reality directly exacerbates existing economic and occupational inequalities. It must also take into account a broader definition of what constitutes caregiving and include anyone who provides significant support.

To effectively combat elder abuse and financial vulnerability, we must address the root causes of these issues. This means recognizing the real costs of informal caregiving, adapting federal benefits to real life and systematically integrating informal caregiving into all policies related to seniors.

Protecting vulnerable seniors means supporting those who care for them.

Thank you very much.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Iqra Khalid]

Thank you very much.

Next, from the Edmonton Aboriginal Seniors Centre, we have Deborah Rose.

You have five minutes.

Please go ahead.

[Deborah Rose, Executive Director, Edmonton Aboriginal Seniors Centre]

Good morning.

My name is Deborah Rose, and I'm the executive director at the Edmonton Aboriginal Seniors Centre. We are an indigenous-led, community-based charitable organization that has served first nations, Métis and Inuit seniors in Edmonton since 1986.

Each year, we support more than 3,000 people through culturally grounded programming, wellness supports, housing advocacy and opportunities for connection and belonging. Our work is rooted in dignity, culture and community. Every day we walk alongside indigenous senior women, who are strong, resilient and deeply valued. However, they face increasing vulnerability.

I'm here today to share what I see at the ground level.

Indigenous senior women are experiencing multiple forms of abuse that often go unseen and unreported. We see financial abuse with families, in which seniors feel pressured to share their limited income with their children and extended families.

Many are living on fixed incomes, such as old age security and CPP, which are not keeping pace with the rising cost of living. We are seeing senior women skip meals to afford rent. We are seeing them give up grocery money to support family members. Way too often, they stay silent because of love, obligation and fear of losing those relationships.

Financial vulnerability is closely tied to isolation. Many indigenous senior women are living alone, disconnected from family or community and without access to culturally safe supports. This increases their risk of abuse and leaves them more vulnerable to scams.

Scams targeting seniors are becoming more aggressive and sophisticated. Many of the seniors we serve are not comfortable with technology and face language barriers. When they are targeted, they often do not report it because they feel shame or do not know where to turn.

At the same time, safe and affordable housing remains a critical issue. Many indigenous senior women are living in unstable and unsafe housing conditions. There is a serious lack of culturally appropriate housing in which they can feel secure, supported and connected to community.

These challenges are compounded by the lasting effects of migration and residential schools. Many indigenous seniors carry a deep mistrust of the system and do not feel safe accessing mainstream services. As a result, even when supports exist, they are often out of reach.

From a community leader's perspective, I want to be clear that indigenous-led, community-based organizations are doing this work. However, they are doing it with limited, short-term funding that does not match the scale of need.

We need a shift.

First, we need increased and targeted federal income support for senior women, especially those living alone. No senior should have to choose between food and housing.

Second, we need to sustain investment in indigenous-led organizations to deliver elder abuse prevention, financial literacy and scam awareness programming in culturally relevant and accessible ways.

Third, we need safe pathways for reporting abuse that do not rely solely on policing but are rooted in community trust and support.

Fourth, we must invest in culturally grounded indigenous seniors housing. At the Edmonton Aboriginal Seniors Centre, we are working towards a model that combines housing and a community hub, in which senior women can access programming, meals, cultural connection and support all in one place.

Finally, we must address food insecurity as part of financial vulnerability. Through our nourishing our elders initiative, we see first-hand how access to healthy and culturally appropriate food reduces stress, improves health and strengthens independence.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Iqra Khalid]

Thank you very much, Ms. Rose. I appreciate that.

I would ask all witnesses to please turn on your cameras so that members can see you when they address you.

We'll start our first round of questions with Ms. Cody.

Please go ahead, Ms. Cody. You have six minutes.

[Connie Cody, Conservative, Cambridge, ON]

Thank you.

I want to thank the witnesses on this most important topic for coming today.

My first question is for you, Ms. Schoepflin. In recent years, governments have begun to recognize coercive control as part of intimate partner violence. I'm hearing that for seniors, particularly older women, coercion often occurs in caregiving or dependency relationships rather than traditional intimate partnerships.

Do you believe the way in which our laws and policies currently understand coercive control is too narrow? Should it explicitly include seniors and other vulnerable adults who may be coerced through dependency, housing or financial control rather than physical violence alone?

[Bénédicte Schoepflin]

I'll start by saying that I think it's a great thing that coercive control is finally being recognized, named and associated with intimate partner violence. As some of you may know, CNPEA is part of a group of organizations called the Elder Justice Coalition, which has been speaking and engaging with MPs and senators, including during a day on the Hill in early February, to talk about Bill C-16 and to put forward that we believe an amendment to the bill would be best in order to recognize the realities of older victims of coercive control.

As you said, for older people, very often coercive control will take place at the hands of someone who is not necessarily an intimate partner. If that's not recognized in the language of the bill, then we risk leaving a lot of victims of coercive control unprotected by the bill.

[Connie Cody, Conservative, Cambridge, ON]

Thank you.

Recently I was able to speak to the chief of police in Thunder Bay. He was telling me how he sees elder abuse ranking third in crimes of abuse, next to intimate partner violence as the most common and child abuse as the second most common. This committee has also been hearing from shelter providers and women's crisis centres, which speak of significant increases in cases involving senior women who are experiencing situations of coercion or exploitation. Frontline workers also believe human trafficking is a real concern. However, this is often categorized as elder abuse, homelessness or financial exploitation.

Could you expand on this from your experience? Is there anything more you'd like to share on this, especially on the human trafficking conversation?