Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak to the motion before the House. I would like to point out that I am joining you from the traditional territory of the Anishinabe, the Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat peoples.
I will focus my remarks on COVID-19 measures to support seniors and, more specific, how gender-based analysis plus, or GBA+, informed our support for Canadians, particularly as it relates to our plan for seniors.
I would like to reiterate that in the last election we committed to Canadians that we would increase old security by 10% for seniors aged 75 and up. Our proposal recognizes that older seniors have different needs. As seniors age, they are more likely to outlive their savings, have disabilities, be unable to work and be widowed, all while their health care costs are rising.
For seniors over 75, few work. Those that do work have a median employment income of only $720; half have a disability, half of which are severe; 57% are women; four in 10 are widows; 59% have incomes below $30,000 and 39% of these seniors receive the guaranteed income supplement. These are real pressures on the quality of life for older seniors. Our government recognizes their needs and will help address them by increasing old age security by 10% for seniors aged 75 and up. It is clear that our proposals understand the need to support older women who face unique and elevated challenges.
More broadly, we have understood that Canadians need a government that steps up. At the very onset of the pandemic, we acted quickly to assist Canadians by issuing financial assistance so they could pay their bills. We acted swiftly to introduce the CERB, the Canada emergency student benefit, the emergency wage subsidies and extra income for families, seniors and persons with disabilities.
These measures, like all the measures put in place by our government, are aligned with our commitment to inclusion and diversity. The hard work that we have already done to shift the culture toward GBA+ thinking has helped inform our support measures.
In addition, so that no one falls through the cracks, the government has committed to completing a thorough gender-based analysis while we continue to support Canadians during the pandemic and while taking incremental steps to restart the economy.
Allow me to provide an overview of our emergency measures for seniors, including women, seniors with disabilities and racialized seniors.
As we know, seniors are the most vulnerable to COVID-19. Part of a GBA+ way of thinking means knowing the facts. Statistically, in Canada, women over the age of 65 have a slightly longer life expectancy than men. In 2019, just over half of the Canadian population over 65 were women, so COVID-19 relief measures affecting this age bracket will help alleviate hardship among senior women in particular.
For instance, the government made a one-time, tax-free payment of $300 to seniors who are eligible for the OAS benefit, with an extra $200 for those who are eligible for the GIS.
This amounts to a total of $500 for seniors who are eligible for both the OAS and the GIS to help them cover rising costs related to COVID-19. Eligible seniors received their one-time payment last summer.
In addition to senior women facing heightened barriers and challenges during the pandemic, female seniors with disabilities have also been disproportionately impacted.
According to the latest available data, there are more Canadian women than men living with disabilities: 2.1 million women versus 1.7 million men. Women with disabilities are particularly vulnerable right now because they are more likely to be experiencing financial difficulties. What is more, more than half are victims of violence.
Last April, in keeping with the principles of GBA+, our government created the COVID-19 disability advisory group. This group applied an intersectional lens to accessibility and inclusion in the context of the current pandemic and raised key issues affecting Canadians with disabilities. With the help of this group, Health Canada developed guidelines to ensure that Canadians with disabilities are protected during the pandemic.
Thanks in part to the group's advice, we recognized that people with disabilities needed help to cover the extraordinary expenses they have had to incur during the pandemic.
That is why our government also provided a one-time payment of $600 to certificate holders of the disability tax credit. Eligible seniors who were also receiving the credits I mentioned previously would be eligible for a top-up, for a maximum of $600 in benefits. The group was such a success that it has been made a permanent advisory group to the Minister of Disability Inclusion, and our intersectional framework is continuing with the announcement last fall of the disability inclusion action plan, which will create an income benefit modelled after the guaranteed income supplement.
Now I will say a word about racialized seniors.
The pandemic has laid bare many gaps in our support systems and brought deeply rooted inequalities to the surface. We have seen a resurgence of public concern with systemic racism in the United States and in Canada.
That is why some have urged the government to take stronger steps to eliminate the often unconscious and hidden biases and behaviours in our institutions that perpetuate inequality.
Part of the issue is that we lack data on the specific experiences of Black or racialized seniors, and we know very little about how racialized seniors who are women or persons with disabilities have been impacted by the pandemic. I can assure members that having better data to inform policy is a priority for our government and in line with our GBA+ approach to programs and services.
Our government is working tirelessly to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus and protect the health and financial security of Canadians during the pandemic. We took emergency measures during this crisis with a focus on equality, equity, inclusivity and diversity. We realize that the work is not yet done.
As we move forward from this crisis, we have the opportunity to rebuild our economy with a focus on gender equality and a more inclusive society.
That was outlined in the plan that we announced in our September Speech from the Throne. This is why our government tends to keep doing more, particularly for seniors. We will continue to build an inclusive and diverse society in this great country we call home, Canada.