Province tabs $3M for seniors home modification grants, supportive housing

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This article was published 13/04/2023 (1261 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The provincial government is investing $1.5 million annually in grants for home modifications for seniors, but offering few details on what the program would entail.

The funding — announced Thursday in Winnipeg — will go toward covering costs of small-scale home improvement projects aimed at improving the quality of life of seniors living at home (such as ramp installation, doorway widening, grab bars, increased lighting and curbless showers).

Residents of the province age 65 and older, or family members with seniors over 65 living with them, who have a household income of $60,000 or less will be eligible to apply.

“We know our existing housing stock does not meet our (aging) population’s accessibility needs,” Enabling Access Inc. chief executive officer and occupational therapist Marnie Courage said at the announcement at Brooklands Active Living Centre.

“As such, there’s urgent need for financial assistance for older adults, and older adults with disabilities, to have full modification assessments and solutions.”

A request for proposal was issued by the province Thursday for an organization to administer the program.

Manitoba is following other provinces that already have financial programs to help low-income seniors pay for home adaptations.

In Nova Scotia, a one-time forgivable grant of up to $3,500 is available. In Alberta, seniors can apply for retroactive funding for a loan of up to $40,000 at 6.7 per cent interest.

Seniors and Long-term Care Minister Scott Johnston said it was too early to determine what the grant plan would look like in Manitoba, how many people that amount of money would be able to support, or how soon seniors would be able to take advantage of the program.

“We will be doing our due diligence to ensure that we get the right individual or the right organization, and then we will be overseeing it to ensure that we’re going to do it as soon as possible,” he said.

Some in attendance for Thursday’s announcement were cautiously optimistic the funding would support their needs.

Lois Coulson, 74, is currently living with her daughter, 44-year-old Darcie Luzny.

Luzny’s home has some barriers for Coulson’s mobility issues, including steep steps at the entry and a tub that’s difficult for her access. They’re hoping they’ll be able to apply for a grant.

Coulson said she’d wait and see how the grant would be handed out, noting many seniors in Manitoba, especially lower-income seniors, can’t afford to make the repairs and then wait for a rebate.

“To get this stuff done immediately, where are the funds coming from? And we’re not the only people, there’s other ones out there that suffer an accident, suffer a hip break,” she said.

“The money has to come quickly… I don’t have the money to put it out to get it back. It has to come.”

Luzny said she’s received an estimate cost of $5,000 for a walk-in tub before installation costs, a cost she can’t afford. She’s since purchased a bath seat second-hand to help her mother.

Coulson found herself wondering how $1.5 million would be spread among Manitoba’s aging population.

“They’re saying $1.5 million for this — $1.5 million when you’ve got how many seniors in Manitoba? How far is that going to go?” she said. “They’ll give everybody about $1.98.”

Stats Canada data shows around 17 per cent of Manitoba’s population is over 65.

Meantime, another $1.5 million yearly is also being pumped into the province’s supportive housing program, which offers 24-7 services in an apartment setting for seniors who don’t need an intensive level of care.

It will go to increasing the funding supportive housing operators get per resident: to $50 a day from $42. That funding goes toward a range of supports from laundry to meals to light housekeeping.

There are 764 supportive housing units in the province. This is the first time the per diem rate for supportive housing operators has increased since 2014.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca