Assisted living : a potential solution to Canada's long-term care crisis

By 2020, 29% of Canada's seniors will be in the 75-84 age bracket, and 13% will be aged 85 and over. How they live and who will look after them will become increasingly urgent problems. While Canada has primarily depended on extended family and nursing homes to care for their elderly, Dr. Stephen Golant, a U.S.-Canada senior Fulbright scholar, suggests there is another way. Over a five-month period spent at Simon Fraser University's Gerontology Research Centre, Dr. Golant evaluated the current state of Canada's housing policy for the elderly and urged all levels of government to look at new strategies to provide for this growing group of elderly seniors. In particular, Dr. Golant suggests the establishment of Assisted Living Facilities, a more resort-like setting targeted at upper-middle and high income seniors.