Waiting Lists for Senior Housing in British Columbia

Over the course of the last decade, the waiting times for seniors housing in British Columbia have substantially decreased. Although waiting times have decreased dramatically over the last decade, the current demographic shift means that there will be more people retiring and the system will be strained to keep up with demand. Because of this, waiting lists need to be considered when looking for retirement housing.

The publicly funded Continuing Care system in British Columbia is set up as a single point entry system. That means to access any kind of publicly funded seniors care services, one needs to book an appointment with their regional continuing care office and have an interview with an intake officer. This officer will assess whether what kind of care and subsidy the senior qualifies for.

Waiting lists for seniors housing are different in the public and private sectors. Publicly funded nursing homes, which provide assistance with activities of daily living and medication administration, usually have a waiting list that is 15-90 days in length. In the Vancouver area, there are currently 541 people on the wait-list for subsidized assisted living, and there are currently 866 tenants living in such units. New units are being built. Although the waiting list is processed chronologically, seniors who are in need will be processed with priority.

The BC Government has built over 13,000 new residential care beds and has established a program called the Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters (SAFER) which provides a rent subsidy to seniors in need or those with modest incomes. The BC Government has also committed $725 million for home health services, up nearly 80 percent from 2001. While the government has gone to great lengths to ensure that publicly funded seniors care is of the highest quality in Canada, there are some seniors who would prefer to live in a privately funded seniors home.

While any publicly funded seniors home in BC will be of a respectable quality, there are some seniors who would prefer to live in a home with extra amenities. There is no centralized list of waiting times for privately funded seniors care homes, and wait times care vary. Retirement communities are in higher demand thus have the longest wait lists, though retirement condo/apartment buildings can sometimes have a minimal or short wait list.

Wait lists exist in both the public and private pay systems and need to be factored in to the decision making process.