FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 13, 2026
Vancouver, BC – As provincial voting day approaches, the Council of Senior Citizens’ Organizations of BC (COSCO BC) is urging all provincial parties to commit to prioritizing seniors.
COSCO BC President Leslie Gaudette states, “Seniors have paid their dues. We’ve worked hard, raised our children, paid our taxes, and voted. And in retirement, we volunteer for the non-profits that ensure services are provided to all.”
COSCO BC believes older people have every right to demand our government prioritize their needs, including community health care, accessible housing, and transportation options, so they can live with dignity and respect in the community of their choice.
“Improvements for seniors can make life better for everyone” Gaudette says. “For instance, publicly funded home care will help adult children cope with elder care and work. Affordable, accessible housing and transit will be a boon for low-waged workers. And keeping rents under control will prevent all renters from becoming homeless due to renoviction.”
COSCO BC challenges all provincial political parties to enhance their platforms by committing to:
- Developing a seniors’ strategy and plan with accountability targets and timelines
- Creating a seniors’ ministry so all services and programs are accessed in one place
- Ensuring age-friendly communities through housing, mobility, and local planning
- Funding seniors’ centres as a core community-based service
- Funding home support as a public service that relieves the pressure on long-term care
- Funding and enabling municipalities to build deeply affordable non-market housing
- Preventing extreme rent increases by implementing vacancy control
- Increasing SAFER rent supplements so no senior ends up homeless
- Reversing changes to the property tax deferment program from the 2026 BC Budget
- Increasing and indexing the Senior’s Supplement and increasing the income threshold
Here’s the reality for older adults in BC:
The number of adults age 65 and over is rising in BC, and they now account for almost 20% of residents or about 1.2 million persons. Improvements in health care have given seniors longer and healthier lives than their parents and grandparents, but many seniors live on very low incomes in their later years. About 600,000 older adults live on $3,000 or less per month, including about 300,000 living on less than $2,000 per month. And although some say all seniors are rich homeowners, about 30% of seniors are renters.
More information is available in the special election edition of the COSCO BC News