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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, Ju ne 2, 20 22 | 2 elections.on.ca Today is election day.HAL JOHNSON &JOANNE MCLEOD A HEALTHIER YOU - CHANGE YOUR HABITS, CHANGE YOUR LIFE WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22ND AT 2:30 PM This is a virtual lecture. To register please visit Delmanor.com The Canadian fitness icons will provide simple strategies to live a healthier lifestyle. 1459 NOTTINGHILL GATE, OAKVILLE 905-469-3232 is still leading a healthy and active life. Mostly, it was witnessing what went on in her mother's nursing home for eight years that swayed her decision. "There were some things I didn't like," she said. "I thought people were just sitting in their wheelchairs, waiting to pass on." But with the country's rapidly aging population -- seen in Oakville, and across the region -- May- nard has concerns about the impact it may have on the support system for old- er adults in the years and decades ahead. According to the 2021 census by Statistics Cana- da, the baby boomer gener- ation, or those between the ages of 56 and 75 in 2021, re- mains the largest popula- tion in Canada at almost 25 per cent -- or more than 9.2 million. The population aged 85 and up was among the fastest-growing age groups, with a 12 per cent increase between 2016 and 2021. By 2046, that cohort could triple to almost 2.5 million. Statistics Canada states that this is likely to add to "the existing pressures in the health care and home care sectors." With a total population of nearly 600,000, Halton saw a growth spurt of nine per cent over a five-year pe- riod, faster than the prov- ince at five per cent, the lat- est data shows. Older adults aged 65 and over make up 16 per cent of the population, or about 95,485 -- up from roughly 14.9 per cent and 82,000, re- spectively, from the previ- ous census. Looking at the percent- age of older adults living in Halton's four municipali- ties, Burlington skews old- er at 20.9 per cent compared to Oakville's 15.7 per cent, Halton Hills' 15 per cent, and Milton's 9.9 per cent. Despite the perception that many older adults in the region are "extremely wealthy," Tom Carrothers, 76, president of the Halton chapter of Canadian Asso- ciation for Retired Persons (CARP), said that in reality, many within the baby boomers umbrella are struggling. "There's a large number (of residents) living in sup- portive housing, subsi- dized housing," he said. "There's more and more se- niors living on the street. They're living in shelters. There's more and more se- niors who are using the food banks and other social services." Carrothers has been ad- vocating as part of the Hal- ton Seniors Advocacy Group for more than a de- cade, which brings to the forefront some of the chal- lenges -- present and fu- ture -- relating to home care, long-term care and housing. He calls the current home care system "inade- quate," where it's hard for community members to get government-supported care on a reliable and time- ly basis, while the problem in long-term care -- includ- ing the wait-list -- has been well-documented even long before the pandemic hit, he said. Some long-term-care fa- cilities in Milton and Oak- ville, for example, have more than 500 people on the waiting list -- with only a handful of beds becoming available each month, ac- cording to May 2022 data from Ontario's Home and Community Care Support Services. Echoing Maynard, Car- rothers said long-term care may not always be the first choice for aging residents. "People are frightened of it," he said, of the reaction to recent stories that came out of "mishandled" long- term-care homes. The looming prospect of an economic downturn al- so hangs heavily over many retirees who are concerned about "outliving their in- vestments" and the govern- ment's ability to keep social program funding intact -- let alone enhancing it. Although Carrothers views Canada's overall health-care system favour- ably, he'd like to see a more integrated system and an improvement to home care -- which, he argued, could save costs in the long run. He also calls for trans- formational changes to long-term care, making sure that it is resident- and social-focused to encour- age older adults to be more actively engaged with the community. "Anybody can build a building. Not everybody can build a community," he said. STORY BEHIND THE STORY: After analyzing the latest census data, we wanted to examine how the current needs of older adults are being met and what the future may hold. NEWS MANY OLDER ADULTS STRUGGLING FINANCIALLY, SAYS CARP PRESIDENT Continued from front "Anybody can build a building. Not everybody can build a community." - Tom Carrothers, president of the Halton chapter of Canadian Association for Retired Persons