P.E.I Senior Citizens' Federation is disappointed that the federal budget will do nothing for the 52 per cent of Island seniors who live below the poverty line. Read more in the CBC article, "P.E.I. seniors disappointed by budget."

According to a CBC investigation on seniors and housing and GVRD homelessness statistics the number of homeless seniors has gone up dramatically. The GVRD statistics show the number of elderly homeless went up 276 per cent between 2002 and 2005.

According to a Statistics Canada report, A Portrait of Seniors in Canada (in HTML and in PDF) although the financial situation of seniors has improved over the past quarter century, senior women who live alone are more likely to be low income. As well Quebec and BC have the highest percent of low income seniors. Read a CBC article, "B.C., Quebec have highest percentage of poor seniors: report" and a Statistics Canada summary, A portrait of seniors.

The Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives writes a response to a mistake which appeared in the Toronto Star. The newspaper wrote that an adult refugee recieved more than twice the amount of monthly assistance than is given to a pentioner. Refugees actually recieve much less money per month than pentioners. Instead of competing for the government funding they need, these two groups should join together to work for social justice.

WE*ACT has put together a position paper on senior women living in poverty called: Pensions in Canada: Policy Reform because Woman Matter (in PDF). The Vancouver City Council recently voted to add their support to a growing movement responsive to the poverty of senior women. If you'd like to support a call for pension reform after reading the paper contact WE*ACT.

A senior in Yellowknife has been evicted from her publicly-subsidized home, which she had lived in for 14 years. She is expected to give up her two bedroom home and move into a seniors home. This would make it impossible from her children to stay the night with her, like they have been taking turns doing with her two bedroom home. The Northwest Territory Housing Authority insists that her eviction is necessary. The behaviour of the Northwest Territory Housing Authority have begun a fight for the government to improve the administration of public housing. For more details read the NNSL's article on the case.

In 1999, Senior Summit, a British Columbia wide gathering of seniors in Vancouver lead to a group of women to form a working group to learn about inequalities in pension for women. From that working group WE*ACT (Women Elders In Action) was formed. WE*ACT has been responsible for a number of campaigns and actions and has recently submitted a position paper on the situation of women elders in Canada dependent on public pensions for their income. Download the 411 Seniors Centre Society's position paper (in PDF).

In December 2000, the Seniors Housing Information Program (SHIP) received funding to research the emergency shelter and services needs of seniors and older adults living outside of the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. The results of the research project are documented in the 117 page publication Out of Sight, Out of Mind: the Plight of Seniors and Homelessness (in PDF) which was officially released on September 12.

Elders in Inuvik have organized and are demanding town council to move ahead with plans to develop a popular tourist campground into a multi-unit housing complex. Read a CBC story about the elder's housing plan.

Seniors' Network of BC says "just say no" to government plans to move long-term care residents. The website also has information about the impact of government cuts to seniors, links to other resources, and information about other campaigns. It also has a place to record how the cutbacks are affecting seniors personally.

A group of seniors in Quebec are a big part of Project Genesis’s Social Action Group, and have spent much of the past few years fighting federal and provincial cutbacks to Medicare funding, medical user-fees and Quebec’s two-tier drug-insurance plan, which force people on welfare, low-income workers and many seniors to choose between food or badly needed medication.

"A description and critique of Canada's complex retirement income system. The report covers federal and provincial income security programs for seniors, the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans, occupational pension plans, Registered Retirement Savings Plans and income tax provisions which encourage saving for retirement and reduce the tax burden on the elderly. The study is geared to the lay reader with no specialised knowledge of the pension system." A Pension Primer and the National Council of Welfare's (NCW) press release are available on the NCW's website.