National Seniors Discussion Tackles Housing

ACORN’s  ‘fixed income, affordability, and fighting back’ Zoom for older adults brought together over 100 engaged individuals from coast to coast! 

ACORN representatives, Alejandra Ruiz Vargas (Toronto),  Darryl King (Halifax), Gary Rodden (Metro Vancouver), Stacey Semple (Toronto), and Christena Abbot (Toronto) summarized some of the biggest issues facing older adults in Canada.  They highlighted details such as:

• Most retirees live on fixed or semi-fixed incomes—such as public pensions (CPP, OAS, GIS), private pensions, or life savings and when prices for essentials spike, their income generally does not keep pace. 
• The cost of shelter itself—specifically monthly rent—is by far the largest single expense, regularly consuming anywhere from 30% to over 50% of a fixed retirement income. 
• Close to 25% of single older adults live in core housing need!  
• The federal government is saying rents are going down but this isn’t true!
• A 3% to 5% drop in asking rents following years of 20%+ compounding spikes does not make housing “cheap”.
• When you look at Regular  Units vs. Luxury Condos: Most of the rent drops are occurring in high-end, newly built luxury rentals or studio/1-bedroom condos. 
• Affordable, budget-friendly 2-bedroom apartments—the type seniors often rely on—remain extremely scarce and highly competitive. 

After an interactive poll we ended with an overview of how the federal government CAN take action by putting conditions on federal money flowing to the provinces and a broad discussion on affordability issues.

Plans for National Housing Day and ACORN’s National Day of Action are coming soon! Stay turned!