Seniors make up fastest-growing group facing homelessness
MELBOURNE: As prices continue to rise, an increasing number of older adults are finding themselves facing homelessness.
According to Supportive Housing of Waterloo (SHOW), since 2021, the number of individuals 55 years and older on a housing waitlist has increased 700 per cent.
The number of individuals 65 years and older on a housing waitlist has increased 200 per cent since 2022. Older adults now make up the fastest-growing demographic of those on the housing waitlists. This knowledge may come as a surprise to some. There is a belief that older or retired adults are financially sound; their houses are paid for, and they have plenty of savings.
Brian Paul, Executive Director, SHOW was a guest on The Mike Farwell Show where he said, that simply isn’t true
“This is the reality in 2026; it is a myth. There is that perspective or stereotype that older adults are flourishing, and we’re here to say that’s not the case.”
To help address the problem, SHOW is working on a $3.3 million modular supportive housing build on land the organization already owns at 362 Erb St. W.
Paul said the issue SHOW keeps running into is securing the funds to operate these facilities.
“The challenge is: for individuals who’ve been on the street for years at a time — the trauma, abuse and neglect that comes with that — they’re going to not just need the affordable housing; they’re going to need the intensive supports that come with it,” he said. “The challenge is: you can build the building; that’s still hard to do, but there’s capital- that’s the brick and mortar. But how do you run it?”
Paul said that it falls on governments, and he believes all levels have a role to play.
Outside the region
Meantime in Guelph, the Canadian Mental Health Association of Waterloo Wellington (CMHAWW) is working on a new program aimed at unhoused seniors.
Helen Fishburn, CEO, CMHAWW, was a guest on The Mike Farwell Show when she described more about the Seniors on Stevenson program.
“We were actually able to repurpose one of the homes that we operate at CMHA in Guelph and create a home specific for seniors who are struggling with being unhoused or who are living precariously,” Fishburn described.
“The home can fit up to four seniors, and the goal is for them to live there for a few months until we can get them on their feet, feeling better, feeling stable and supported and then find housing for them long-term,” Fishburn added.
Seniors on Stevenson is operating as a pilot, but it’s already showing positive returns, thanks to support from the community, she said.
Housing advocates have long called for more supportive housing as one of the solutions to the homelessness crisis.
Paul said that when you increase the supportive housing supply, the effects are felt across the community.
“There’s a lot of news about the encampments. My response to that is, if you want to clear those encampments and get people out of those encampments and off the streets, supportive housing is how you’re going to do it. So, we need to reinvest and be reinvigorated enough to invest in supportive housing as a solution because it really is a solution.”