Supporting Canada’s aging population by developing a premier retirement living community
The care of our elderly population is one of the most pressing challenges that Canada is facing in the first half of this century—COVID-19 has starkly highlighted this need.
The current pandemic has brought to light Canada’s underinvestment in seniors’ communities. By the end of the decade, close to one in four Canadians will be seniors, up from 17% today. Studies show that to meet the demand of long-term care, Canada has to nearly double the number of long-term care beds by 2035. Politicians know that they have to prepare the country for the coming tsunami in long-term care, however given the speed of action, True North sees significant private investment potential especially in the premium elderly care sector.
The aging baby boomer challenge
According to RBC Thought Leadership, 45% of baby boomers are currently at least 65 year old, with the remaining cohort retiring over the decade. It is expected that about 10% of elderly over the age of 80 will live in a seniors’ residence or nursing home.[1] Canada’s population pyramid, clearly shows the “baby-boomers” demographic cohort at around 55 years of age rapidly approaching retirement age over the next decade.
By 2030 about 650,000 people will live in Canadian seniors' residences or nursing homes, up from currently 450,000 now.[1] To put it another way, Canadian industry needs to create 20,000 units, with varying degrees of required support, every year for the next ten years in order to meet this requirement. This is a whole-of-nation challenge that will require significant public-private-partnership in order to solve.
The severe impact of COVID-19 on seniors’ residences is a sobering demonstration of why we need to invest significantly in creating the infrastructure necessary to support the most vulnerable of our society. True North will be part of the solution.
True North has invested in Stonemont Retirement Living, a developer with over 40 years of expertise in building and operating retirement communities. Stonemont is presently late stages into the planning of two locations in Atlantic Canada and is exploring adding already operating residences to its portfolio. Stonemont will be the premier retirement living residences in the communities where it will operate.