March 2025 Message from the Seniors Advocate
As we welcome the month of March, I’m pleased to share the latest happenings and updates of the Office of the Seniors Advocate.
My office’s Caregiver Survey on Access to Long-Term Care has been extended to March 18th. If you are a family caregiver for someone waiting for long-term care, or who recently entered long-term care, I urge you to take this survey. We want to hear about your experiences with the long-term care placement process, wait times, interim supports for seniors and families and more.Your perspective will inform my office’s review of long-term care supply and demand, as well as recommendations to government for improvement.
At the end of February, I had the opportunity to join with Newfoundland and Labrador Seniors’ Advocate Susan Walsh to meet with many organizations advocating for seniors at the national level including the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence and National Institute on Ageing. Susan and I also presented at the Canadian Association of Retired Persons Annual General Meeting on the impact of age discrimination on important issues affecting seniors across the country, including lack of appropriate and affordable housing, wait lists for seniors’ services such as long-term care and home support, and income challenges.
Last month, I was also pleased to support an initiative from the Province to strengthen consumer protection laws in B.C. Our office often hears from older adults who have fallen victim to unfair contract terms and purchased an item or service they didn’t need due to high-pressure sales tactics. These proposed amendments would help prevent predatory sales practices and provide better protections for seniors and others when making purchases and signing contracts for services.
On a similar topic, I would like to remind you that March is Fraud Prevention Month. Cases of fraud have been steadily rising over the past few years and are becoming increasingly sophisticated. It is more important than ever for seniors to increase their awareness of current scams and learn how to protect themselves and their loved ones. I encourage readers to follow the link in this newsletter to review some important fraud prevention resources for seniors.
Finally, I would like to recognize the strength and resilience of B.C. seniors in dealing with extreme winter weather across the province last month, as well as express my gratitude for the many seniors’ organizations, caregivers and neighbours who stepped up to help clear snow and ice and check in on seniors to make sure they were safe. I met with seniors in the Courtenay-Comox region, Parksville and Nanaimo and saw firsthand how their communities were recovering from wind storms and power outages.
Wishing you a happy and healthy month of March.
Sincerely,
Dan Levitt
BC Seniors Advocate