Seniors Advocate branding logo Seniors Advocate branding logo mobile
Skip to navigation Skip to Contents Skip to Accessibility Statement
1-877-952-3181
Home Health Care Community Supports Housing Income Supports Transportation Seniors Safety Long-Term Care and Assisted Living Directory B.C. Seniors Guide OSA Information and Referral Line Reports Annual Report Monitoring Seniors Services Events Media Room Newsletters About Us About the Advocate Council of Advisors Contact Us
Menu

April 2025 Message from the Seniors Advocate

As we move forward into Spring, I’d like to take a moment to share some exciting updates.

In November and December of 2024, my office undertook a survey inviting British Columbians to share their perceptions and experiences on ageism. We received a tremendous response! 9,200 people took the survey, 84% of whom told us they believe it’s an issue in B.C., and 54% reported being impacted.

Last month we released a report summarizing the responses on five themes: social inclusion, employment, health care, the media, and safety. Thank you to everyone who shared your experiences with us; many of these stories are included in the report.

I would also like to express my gratitude to the family caregivers who took time to complete our Caregiver Survey on Access to Long-Term Care, which is now closed. You will see the feedback you shared reflected in our upcoming report on the challenges accessing long-term care and my recommendations to government on this important issue.

On that note, this month we celebrate National Caregiver Day and I would like to acknowledge the remarkable, but often unrecognized contributions, of family caregivers in B.C. Your unpaid efforts are essential to the health and wellbeing of seniors in our province and your dedication helps keep our health care system afloat. I will continue to advocate for caregiver supports like adult day programs, respite services and free home support.

In other news this month, I was pleased to see some improvements to the Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters program announced in the recently released B.C. budget. This program provides a rental subsidy to low-income senior renters struggling to get by on fixed incomes. While this improvement is very welcome, I continue to urge government to index the subsidy to inflation, modify the rent ceiling to reflect market rents, and ensure that low-income seniors are paying no more than 30% of their income toward rent as the program intends.

Wishing you a happy, healthy month of April!

Yours sincerely,

Dan Levitt
BC Seniors Advocate