Housing Grants for Seniors in BC

 The following was from COSCO BC

The latest report from the BC Seniors Advocate ‘Monitoring Seniors Services 2020’ states 94% of seniors live independently in private dwellings and 6% live in assisted living or long-term care. 81% of households maintained by seniors are owned, and an estimated 73% of these have no mortgage.

The Home Ownership grants are available to residents of BC to reduce property taxes on their principal residence.  An additional grant may be claimed for homeowners 65 years or older, persons with disabilities, veterans, or a spouse or relative of a deceased owner. For homes valued above $1.525 million, the additional homeowner grant is reduced incrementally as the assessed home value rises until the grant is $0 for homes valued over $1.694 million in most of BC and $1.734 million in northern and rural areas. Homeowners must still pay at least $100 in property tax annually to contribute to essential services. In 2019, there were 423,193 Seniors Homeowner Grants claimed.

Seniors with an annual income of $32,000 or less may qualify for the Low Income Grant Supplement for Seniors, in addition to the Home Owner Grant. Most seniors who qualify for this grant get $845 from the province, but this amount depends on the income level and the assessed value of the home. Applications must be made annually.

Property Tax Deferment allows eligible BC homeowners 55 and older, surviving spouses and persons with disabilities to defer paying their property taxes for a low simple interest charge that accrues until the account is paid in full. In 2019-20 there were 69,757 households  deferring their taxes, with an interest rate of 1.95%.

Senior renters in BC include 19% of senior households, but vary widely from Vancouver 23%, to Parksville 11%, Kamloops 14%, and Victoria 22%. The vacancy rate for one-bedroom apartments in BC in 2019 was 1.3% but would vary depending on the region of the province.

Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters (SAFER) provides a subsidy directly to BC renters aged 60 or older who have a low to moderate-income and pay more than 30% of the gross monthly income towards rent. As the average rent of a one-bedroom has increased but the rent ceiling used to calculate SAFER subsidies has not kept pace, causing the maximum rents used to calculate SAFER subsidies to remain behind current rents. In March 2020 there were 24,974 recipients of SAFER, with an average payment of $207.

Seniors’ Subsidized Housing is long-term housing funded by BC Housing, available to low-income BC residents aged 55 or older, or those who have a disability. Rents are based on income, tenants pay 30% of gross income. Applications are through the Housing Registry maintained by BC Housing, or directly with organizations maintaining their own databases. In BC there are approximately 31,000 units in 2020. The application list has an average wait time of 2.6 years, and a median wait time of 1.7 years.

Home Adaptations for Independence (HAFI) is available to BC residents of all ages, helping low-income homeowners and renters with a disability or diminished ability to pay for home adaptations that will allow them to continue to live independently in their home. There are specific eligibility requirements. Applications can be submitted in more than one year with a Lifetime maximum grant of $17,500.

Decade of Healthy Living

 The United Nations has declared 2021-2030 as the decade of Healthy Ageing. The UN recognizes health as central to the experience of ageing. The initiatives are to: “change how we think, feel and act towards age and ageing; facilitate the ability of older people to participate in and contribute to their communities and society; deliver integrated care and primary health services that are responsive to the needs of the individual, and provide access to long-term care for older people who need it.” See more information at https://www.who.int/news/item/14-12-2020-decade-of-healthy-ageing-a-new-un-wide-initiative  

There are some interesting messages that are shared by all the world leaders like the Secretary-General of the United Nations stress in their comments about where the world is after months of pandemic measures. regarding older adults:

1.  No person is expendable. Everybody should have the same rights, whether they are old or young.

2.  The prevalence of ageing in our society is much revealed by the world crisis. Have you heard anybody say, "They were in long-term care anyway, so they shouldn't get the same level of care as younger people"? We probably haven't heard that belief spoken right out loud, but it has been at work, nonetheless.

3.  We need to create the new normal. We must not return to the way things were. We should emerge from this strange world of masks and distancing with renewed expectations. When this is all over will there be a new recognition of the human rights of everyone? This will take vigilance and effort.

In an ideal world, perhaps the minority of care homeowners who put greed and profits ahead of their responsibilities to provide for their residents in appropriate ways will reform themselves. Well, we do not live in an ideal world so it is up to governments to ignore the lobbyists and adopt standards based on health science.

Every day is an adventure

I was thinking about my grandson, who is ten, who just came back from an exciting adventure in Melbourne. He was at a Math camp and evidently studied how math helped the mission to Mars. My thoughts wandered back to when I was around his age and realized that I thought every day was an adventure. But my adventures were different than his, he has been to Canada, Japan, Queensland, New South Wales and travelled throughout Victoria. His adventures are probably just as exciting for him as mine were for me, but mine were on a different scale. Changes in latitude, changes in attitude as Jimmy Buffet sang.

My earliest memories of my adventures were when I was in, I suppose about grade 3. One adventure involved a group of us going to the river in the evening to look at the stars and discuss when the aliens would land, what they would look like and how smart they would be. 

Another adventure was moving to the other side of town and getting my own home, a new home and new adventures. Those recalled adventures involved a lot of rock picking to clear the land, a great deal of hard work, putting in fence posts. However, they also involved exploring the new woods behind the house, helping to pick out the new baby cows, feeding the chickens, chasing the cow back to our property, making new friends, exploring new ways to get to the lake where we swam every summer from grade 4 to grade 12.

Other adventures were getting a new paper route and getting to know my new customers. All the adventures were not good, such as struggling to learn my place in this new community, but most were good, such as learning to manage a band when I was in grade 6 which helped when I was asked to manage a band when I was in grade 10. I also remember our weekly trips to Victoria to see our relatives and wondering why they spoke English with a funny accent. We also went to town every two weeks and I loved that we could go to the library and pick out enough books to read for the next two weeks.

Life was about adventure and learning something new every day when I was young. I hope the adventure continues for my grandson and that he finds the time to share them with us. 

When I retired, I embraced that idea and now almost every day is a new adventure, with new things to learn. COVID has slowed the adventures a bit, but through social media, they continue.  I hope that your retirement is still a journey of adventure and excitement at the new possibilities that every day presents.

You only need to move through today.

 Don't be afraid. You needn't slay the beast or scale the entire mountain. That's not how it's done. You only need to move through today.

Think of the distance you've already covered. Focus on your strengths. Let each new step remind you of your freedom. Let your every breath remind you of your power. Seek out friends and guides; they're anxious to help.

You're not alone. You're understood. This road has been walked before. Dance life's dance, just a few steps at a time, and in the wink of an eye you will wonder to yourself, "What beast, what mountain? Was I having a dream?