Ballooning Long-Term Care Waitlists Signal Urgent Need to Remove Home Support Co-Payments, Say Seniors’ Organizations

Vancouver, BC — A newly released report from British Columbia’s Seniors Advocate confirming a more than 200 per cent increase in long-term care (LTC) waitlists since 2016 underscores a systemic failure to keep pace with the needs of an aging population. While the number of seniors in B.C. has grown by 19 per cent over the past decade, the number of publicly funded LTC beds has increased by only five per cent, leaving many older adults waiting nearly 10 months for care.