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- Published: 17 April 2024
On April 16th 2024, Canada’s Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland introduced the 2024 Budget for the federal government entitled Fairness for Every Generation. While CNPEA applauds the intent of the federal Budget 2024, the commitment to “generational fairness” fell short by putting most of the focus on younger generations, particularly when it comes to housing and employment, and largely omitting older Canadians.
CNPEA was pleased to see some of the announcements, particularly regarding health care and caregiving, such as:
- the commitment to develop a National Caregiving Strategy,
- steps towards helping provinces offer provide home-care options for older people
- the promotion of new rural health care workers (which should benefit the largely older, rural population)
- promises to advance the Safe Long Term Care Act to support new national, long-term care standards
We recognize that more seniors will have access to dental services through the Canadian Dental Care Plan, and Health Canada will receive 1.5 billion over 5 years to initiate the National Pharmacare program.This said, older people in Canada are more than care recipients. The federal government’s commitment to establishing a Safe Long Term Care Act, while important and commendable, does not address the everyday needs of the majority of older people who live independently. They deserve to see their rights to housing, employment, and safety and security addressed specifically, and funded thoroughly.
Noticeably absent from the 2024 Budget are announcements regarding elder abuse prevention and awareness, gender-based violence in later life, or any other form of violence and discrimination against older people. And while several new Criminal Code offences specific to auto thefts were proposed, there is still no sign of the long-promised Criminal Code changes relative to elder abuse which have been on the mandate letter of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General for several years now. While we applaud the Federal Budget’s repeated nods to gender equality, diversity, and inclusion, we are worried that these efforts do not specifically recognize older people as an equity-deserving group.
This Federal Government failed to acknowledge the needs of Canada's growing aging population and to address them in this new budget. 1 in 5 people in Canada are currently 65 and over and their number is expected to rise to 10.4 million by 2037, with the 75 and over demographic growing at a faster pace. In recent elections, voters aged 65 to 74 had the highest turnout at the polls, something which the Federal government should take more seriously.
