According to the latest data from Statistics Canada, about 50 percent of Canadians have cared for an aging, sick or disabled family member or friend at some point. Women face a larger caregiving burden: the proportion of women who cared for an adult family member or friend on any given day was three times that of men in 2015. Forty-three percent missed work, 15 percent cut down their hours and 10 percent passed up a promotion or new job because of their caregiving duties.

It is, therefore, important for boomers, many of whom have caregiving duties for their elderly parents, to prepare themselves, and, as much as they can, their employers, about potential scenarios and unexpected crises. Even if caregivers are relying on available services for elder care, even navigating these resources can require a major time commitment. This might involve signing up for home nursing or having a case worker quickly find room in a suitable-care home for their parent; recommending temporary respite care; and day programs that give time for caregivers to look after themselves.

According to The Globe and Mail, provinces in Canada allow 27 or 28 weeks of compassionate leave for caregivers tending to gravely ill or dying relatives, or to people they consider family. Federally, some employment insurance benefits are available as a non-refundable tax credit to family caregivers. Human resources experts said that most organizations will defer to the provincial Employee Standards Act (ESA) regulations, but different employers will provide access to different types of internal leaves and/or may be flexible in how an employee is using their sick days, personal days and vacation days to cover off intermittent absences from work.

Employees should always keep their employers apprised of their personal situation and flexibility from the employer to work with the employee during this period of time will be critical. Employees can take heart in the fact that compassionate care regulations mean that even reticent employers have an obligation to try and be helpful in these situations because boomers are often part of the ‘sandwich’ generation with responsibilities of taking care of both their children as well as their elderly parents.

For employers, apart from observing all government regulations to support caregiving employees, the former should also recognize the economic importance of the latter’s continued participation in the workforce by creating more flexible working schedules. According to the Federal Government’s national seniors strategy policy brief, caregivers often end up earning less and foregoing advancements in their own careers than others without these additional responsibilities. According to the Canadian Caregiving Coalition, a virtual alliance of partner organizations that work collectively to identify and respond to the needs of caregivers in Canada,15 percent of working caregivers reduce their work hours; 40 percent miss days of work; 26 percent take a leave of absence; 10 percent turn down job opportunities; and six percent eventually quit their jobs. While the cost to working caregivers includes lost wages and decreased retirement income, 19 percent further report that their physical and emotional health suffers as well.

For Canadian employers, productivity losses become substantial, with estimations totaling a loss of 18 million work days per year due to missed days and increased employee turnover. It is estimated that the cost to the Canadian economy from lost productivity due to caregiving responsibilities is $1.3 billion per year. Finding ways to better accommodate the needs of older Canadians, including those who may be balancing caregiving duties, can result not only in improved workplace productivity and reduced employee turnover, but an opportunity to retain highly skilled older workers whose experience and expertise are difficult to replace.

According to a recent federally-sponsored Employer Panel for Caregivers report, Canadian employers indicate a clear lack of knowledge around how best to support older Canadians and caregivers in the workplace. Participants indicated that the main barriers for employers in providing support for working caregivers includes lack of awareness, the nature of certain jobs, and a lack of leadership and support to advance best practices and supports. A lack of communication among employers and employees was also considered among the major barriers to supporting working caregivers. The report further explained that fostering a workplace culture that views older workers and caregiving positively must include providing clear information about employer guidelines, sources of information on best practices to support older workers, caregiver benefits available, and leadership and training opportunities which encourage flexible work environments.

It is, therefore, encouraging that the Federal Government is recommending the following options of evidence-based policy options to consider in this area:

• Creating national standards or a framework to support more flexible working environments for older workers and caregivers
• Federal recognition of employers with best practices for engaging and supporting older workers and caregivers

In the meantime, there are a number of measures that employers could consider. According to the Canadian Caregiver Coalition, here are a few tips and tools for employers to prepare their workplace in support of caregivers:

• Recognize employee caregivers within your organization
• Make a supportive environment part of your corporate philosophy
• Be flexible and creative
• Provide employee caregivers with necessary information
• Know your legal obligations
• Evaluate your commitment to a supportive workplace environment

As the population ages, whichever company or organization that excels in supporting caregiving duties for their employees will become a winner in recruiting and keeping talents.

Photo Credit: International Airport Review

I’ve written on this blog before on how cities and countries around the world should change and adapt to aging populations which is now a global phenomenon. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the percentage of the world’s population over 60 will nearly double by 2050, rising to 22 percent from 12 percent. In the U.S., the Census projects that by 2035, people 65 and older will outnumber children for the first time. In Canada too, by 2031, close to one in four Canadians (23 percent) could be 65 years of age or older, while the proportion of children 14 years of age and younger could remain similar to the 2016 level (16 percent), according to Statistics Canada.

It is not surprising then that design adaptation for older travellers are beginning to appear, for example, benches placed for frequent rest stops. However, other than the basics, designs of airports and roads still need a lot of improvements in this area. The New York Times reported that research conducted by Corgan found that elderly people were more likely to look down while they were walking, which means they could miss directional signs above their heads. So the company suggested that its airport clients place more information closer to the ground.

It also found that older air travellers often headed straight for their gate to reduce anxiety about missing flights, so they bypassed the main concession hubs. The firm recommends that airports add more food options near the boarding areas. The firm also found that shiny floors should be avoided because they could appear wet and cause people to worry about falling.

The leisure and tourism industries should also focus more on the boomers and seniors groups. Any industry which considers and accommodates the disabilities related to aging would do well. At hotels or airports, for instance, shortening the time spent waiting in line to check in, training staff to recognize and act on guests’ special needs, or designing simpler websites and more ergonomic bathrooms could improve everyone’s experience.

According to The New York Times, a few U.S. airports have begun installing special systems that transmit announcements directly to the telecoil receiver in a user’s hearing device, allowing those with hearing aids to more easily understand announcements at the gate. The airports in Detroit and Rochester are among those rolling out the system. A handful of airports, including Los Angeles and Seattle-Tacoma, have recently begun offering Aira, glasses for low-vision or blind people. The glasses connect through Wi-Fi to allow a trained guide to see what the wearers are seeing and help them navigate through the airport, identify luggage and accomplish other tasks.

The Seattle airport has estimated that 35 percent of the people coming through last year were 55 or older. To serve this group and others, the airport has begun offering electric cart service between the airport’s light rail station and the terminal, so passengers don’t have to walk the few tenths of a mile. A service for travellers arriving on cruises from Alaska lets them send their luggage directly from the ship to their departing flight.

At Tampa International Airport, the proportion of older travellers is even higher than national levels – 40 percent of adult travellers are 55 or older. During a large renovation and expansion project that was completed last year, the Tampa airport worked with a design firm and a construction company to minimize walking distances and create an open layout so passengers could easily find their way to gates, restrooms and restaurants. Additional staff members were stationed throughout the terminal to offer assistance as well.

In Canada, cities are also beginning to be more age-friendly. In response to the WHO’s Global Age-Friendly Cities Project in 2006, four Canadian cities – Saanich, British Columbia; Portage la Prairie, Manitoba; Sherbrooke, Quebec; and Halifax, Nova Scotia – joined 29 other cities in the world to participate in this project. These cities from around the world were interested in supporting healthy aging by becoming more age-friendly. The cities gathered information from seniors, senior-care providers and other groups and individuals with an interest in age-friendly communities. This information helped to identify eight key domains of community life in which communities can become more age-friendly: outdoor spaces and buildings, transportation, housing, social participation, respect and social inclusion, civic participation and employment, communication and information, and community support and health services.

To date, 10 provinces in Canada are also promoting age-friendly community initiatives. These include British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

In April 2018, Ontario has announced the recipients of the first Age-Friendly Community Recognition Awards, recognizing 40 communities for being leaders in creating inclusive and accessible environments for seniors. These included Brantford for a plan that focuses on improving housing and transportation infrastructure, social and recreational opportunities, and primary healthcare services. The city of Peterborough was also recognized for working with the County and the Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nations over three years to establish ways for the city to support healthy and active aging. Thunder Bay was also awarded for launching a plan in 2015 to improve programs and services for older adults. After launching initiatives such as adult outdoor exercise spaces, information-sharing opportunities, and more resources to support the community’s ethnic diversity, health and housing needs, the City launched a new Age-Friendly Community-Wide Action Plan in 2017.

The city of Barrie has also been recognized for making strides to become an age-friendly community. With assistance from a grant received from the Ontario Government, the city has developed an Age-Friendly Community Plan which features policies, services and facilities that support older people to live in a secure environment, enjoy good health and continue to participate fully in their communities. Work on the plan included a needs assessment, the organization of a successful community forum, and the circulation of a discussion paper to gather further input. In 2014, Barrie also established a Seniors Advisory Committee to provide advice and recommendations to City Council concerning opportunities to make Barrie a more age-friendly community so all seniors can be meaningful participants.

Big cities such as Toronto and Ottawa were also recipients of the first Ontario Age-Friendly Community Recognition Award. But unless Canada has a country-wide age-friendly initiative, these regional efforts may not suffice. With the changing demographics across Canada, urban and community planning should speed up with adapting and catering to the needs of greying populations.

Photo Credit: CNN

It is about time that the identities of anonymous sources of leaked information to the media should be named and disclosed to the public in order to hold the whistle-blowers accountable. Unless the naming of the sources would put those lives in danger, whistle-blowers should be bold and courageous enough to tell all by attaching their names to the stories they are telling via the media.

In recent years, there were numerous cases whereby anonymous sources in the media wrecked the careers and lives of politicians, their parties and their families. In the #MeToo movement, men should be made accountable for how they inappropriately misbehaved to women, but the victims should also be brave enough to put their names behind their accusations. When former Ontario PC leader Patrick Brown was accused of sexual harassment by his female staff as first reported by CTV News, the two women victims remained anonymous even though they’ve left the service. Meanwhile, a career politician’s dream to become Ontario’s Premier was shattered and Brown stepped down in a cloud of mystery and shame. He eventually filed a lawsuit against CTV and demonstrated that he’s a cat with nine lives by winning Brampton’s mayoral elections.

The two-month SNC-Lavalin affair began on February 7 this year when The Globe and Mail revealed that an anonymous source has disclosed that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his senior staff have inappropriately attempted to influence the decision of the then Attorney General and Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould. Fifty-four days of back-and-forth denials, clarifications and after three resignations of senior Cabinet staff, the retirement of the Clerk of the Privy Council, and the ejection of two senior Liberal members from caucus, the scandal still lingers and is likely to cost the Liberals the Federal elections this fall.

Throughout this two-month affair, numerous emails and text messages were shared during witness testimonies before the House Justice Committee. Whether one believes the Prime Minister or Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott, the truth of the matter is: the former was weak with and ill-advised on crisis communications and the two senior women just threw in a series of innuendos and vague accusations targeted at the Prime Minister after their resignations from the cabinet. Trudeau might have handled this scandal badly, but the two women also deserved to be fired from the Liberal caucus. If they wanted to say something, just say it and tell the whole story when they had had the first chance. Why tell their stories via innuendos to the media?

Then came another leak of what happened during the recent appointment of a Supreme Court justice. Somebody in government obviously breached the confidentiality of the appointment process. The leaked reports focused on years-old tension between Jody Wilson-Raybould and the Prime Minister over her choice of a Supreme Court justice. She wanted to appoint Manitoba Justice Glenn D. Joyal in 2017 to not only fill a vacancy on the top court, but also be appointed to the chief justice role. Trudeau rejected her pick and the ‘sources’ familiar with the matter told the media that this disagreement was the point when relations between the two began to fray. Shortly after the news broke, Joyal issued a statement confirming he applied for the seat on the court but said he ultimately withdrew his name for personal reasons. “I fear that someone is using my previous candidacy to the Supreme Court of Canada to further an agenda unrelated to the appointment process. This is wrong,” Joyal wrote.

Opposition parties asked to probe this leak while Liberal MPs said that while they agreed with the seriousness of the matter, they could not support the idea of asking journalists who reported the news to appear before the committee to discuss the leaks. But if the media would, from now on, stop using anonymous sources, then we, the public, would understand how everything has unfolded in full transparency. First and foremost, who leaked the information to The Globe and Mail that the Prime Minister and his senior staff have inappropriately tried to influence Jody Wilson-Raybould’s decision not to grant a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) to SNC-Lavalin? Why should we believe The Globe‘s anonymous source? One is likely to conjecture that somebody close to Wilson-Raybould might have been the whistle-blower in this case. On the other hand, who could have benefited from the Supreme Court justice appointment leak? Probably the Liberal government.

So we can go on and on with further leaking of information and dirt. But without knowing who those whistle-blowers were, there’s no way to hold them accountable and, therefore, the credibility of those stories became questionable. I would strongly recommend that moving forward, the media should seriously look into disclosing who their sources are in order to have full transparency. For whistle-blowers, unless you’re bold enough like Edward Snowden and Julia Assange who are not afraid of what they have done and disclosed, please hold your tongues and stop hiding behind anonymity.

I would also suggest that the Prime Minister immediately fire his current crisis management team and hire a new, strong group of communications professionals to prepare him for the blood sport between now and the October elections. Instead of playing defence, Trudeau should be focusing on selling the new Federal Budget and what he and his team have accomplished during the last four years. As for the Opposition leader Andrew Scheer, Canadians are going to tune-out if he keeps complaining and attacking the Liberal government without any new inspiring policy of his own. Pierre Poilievre’s marathon filibuster in Parliament was just another sign of the Opposition Party’s immaturity that might come back to haunt the Conservatives during the upcoming elections.

Photo Credit: National Post

The news media called Bill Morneau’s latest budget an “Oprah Winfrey” budget – something for everybody, but the 2019 Federal Budget unveiled earlier this week primarily appeals to the two largest demographics that voted for the Liberals in 2015: baby boomers/seniors and the millennials.

For the older population, Ottawa lays out a road map for how a national pharmacare program will be rolled out. The government is proposing to create a new department, the Canadian Drug Agency, to manage federal pharmacare. To establish this office, the government is earmarking $35 million for Health Canada over four years. The budget also included funding for the development of a national strategy for high-cost drugs for rare diseases. Although seniors’ drug costs are now covered by OHIP, drugs for rare diseases are not included. Very often, these drugs can cost upwards of $100,000 a year per patient. The government is promising $1 billion in funding over two years, starting with the 2022-23 fiscal year, plus up to $500 million each year after that. This is music to many seniors’ ears since this is the most vulnerable group in terms of healthcare. Findings from an advisory council, formed last year and chaired by former Ontario health minister Eric Hoskins, would be unveiled in the summer and I am sure that will be part of the Liberals’ campaign strategy.

The budget also included a series of measures aimed at improving the lives and security of seniors and those nearing retirement. The Globe and Mail reported that according to the government, 40,000 people 70 or older are currently not enrolled in the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), meaning they are not receiving a monthly retirement pension. The budget is proposing to proactively enroll eligible seniors so they do not miss out on their CPP benefits.

The budget also included measures aimed at protecting pensions when a company goes under, as was the case with Sears Canada in 2017. The Liberals are also proposing an increase to the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) earnings exemption for low-income seniors, from $3,500 to $5,000. This means seniors receiving the GIS will be able to exempt $1,500 more in income each year before claw-backs. At a time when the debt level is the highest among the seniors cohort, every single dollar would help.

The federal government is also permitting annuities that would allow retirees to move some savings out of their registered retirement funds to an annuity deferred until age 85. The tax rules generally require an annuity purchased with registered funds to begin after the annuitant turns 71. The Liberal government is, instead, amending the rules to permit seniors to purchase an advanced life deferred annuity (ALDA) under certain registered plans. According to financial and tax experts, for clients who do not need to take out RRIF minimums but are forced to, this may provide an avenue for those people to keep more of that money remaining in a tax-sheltered place by making use of these ALDAs.

The ALDAs would reduce the amount retirees are forced to withdraw annually from a registered retirement income fund (RRIF) or other registered plan while preserving savings until later in retirement. According to the budget, the ALDAs, which will apply beginning in the 2020 tax year, will be qualifying annuity purchases under an RRSP, RRIF, deferred profit sharing plan, pooled registered pension plan and defined contribution pension plan.

Lifetime limits will be 25 percent of a specific amount of a qualifying plan, calculated as the value of all property (other than most annuities including ALDAs) held in the qualifying plan as at the end of the previous year; and any amounts from the qualifying plan used to purchase ALDAs in previous years.

If the value of an ALDA purchased in previous years exceeds the 25 percent limit for a particular year due to a decline in qualifying plan assets, the retiree will not be forced to surrender or dispose of the annuity, the budget says. ALDAs will also have a lifetime limit of $150,000 from all qualifying plans, indexed to inflation for taxation years after 2020, rounded to the nearest $10,000.

Another good news for the older population is the budget’s proposal to include $50 million over five years to the Public Health Agency of Canada for the development of a National Dementia Strategy, slated to be unveiled this spring. Over 420,000 seniors in Canada have been diagnosed with dementia and the rate of  seniors living with this debilitating disease is on the rise.

Even for the skills training measures introduced by the budget, baby boomers will be able to benefit even though the Canadian Training Budget is intended to help workers between 25 and 64 pay for training costs. According to Statistics Canada, national job vacancies have risen sharply over the past couple of years, with many employers struggling to hire people with the right skills. Beginning 2020, eligible workers would accumulate $250 in training credits every year, rising to a lifetime total of $5,000. Canadians could apply their accumulated credit against half their training fees and claim their refund when filing tax returns. The amount is not much, but at least it would help those boomers who might want to change their careers.

Housing affordability and student loans are also addressed in the 2019 budget obviously aiming at helping out millennials. I would say any measures alleviating the burden of this young demographic will also be good news for their parents. Many baby boomers still have adult offspring living in their basements without a job and without a home of their own. The government’s support of the young is also helping the old in many ways.

After presenting the budget, the Liberals now have seven months to sell it to Canadians across Canada and I’d bet they would make it a key message that in order to get all these measures implemented, you will have to vote for the incumbent party!

According to Statistics Canada, Canada’s aging population continues to grow and could reach upwards of 10.9 million people by 2036. At the same time, the vulnerability of financial fraud also increases. A 2016 General Social Survey titled Canadians at Work and Home, internet use from 2013 – 2016 rose from 65 percent to 81 percent  among 65- to 74-year-olds, and from 35 percent to 50 percent among those aged 75 and older. According to CPA Canada’s Fraud Protection for Seniors webinar, financial investments are among the top financial fraud scams among seniors who are most vulnerable because they are often lonely, overly trusting, struggle with health issues, and have more readily available money. Unfortunately, when it comes to reporting financial fraud to authorities, many seniors are too ashamed to do so.

The same vulnerability exists in the U.S.A. According to research by the Stanford Center on Longevity and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s Investor Education Foundation, those over the age of 65 are more likely to have lost money due to a financial scam than someone in their 40s. Investment frauds are among the top 10 scams targeting American seniors, according to the National Council on Aging. Many seniors plan for retirement or manage their savings after they finish working, which makes them more vulnerable to become victims of investment schemes. Fraudsters can take advantage of victims by posing as financial advisors to get access to their retirement funds and savings. Once they have access to the funds, they take their money and run.

According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC), many people don’t know their rights and there should be a stronger focus on making sure there is a sense of community for older adults – bringing people together for continuous education and learning.

It is, therefore, enlightening to hear that FAIR Canada and the Canadian Centre for Elder Law are recognizing the special needs of vulnerable investors and urging banks and investment dealers to play a greater role in protecting their clients’ interests. The Globe and Mail reported that in a joint presentation to the New Brunswick Financial and Consumer Services Commission in 2018, FAIR and Elder Law offered six recommendations:

1.  Require investment firms to make reasonable efforts to obtain the name and contact information of a trusted representative for each client, who can be contacted in case of suspicion of abuse or diminished mental capacity.
2. Allow authorized individuals within an investment firm to place a temporary hold on trades and disbursements of funds when there is a reasonable suspicion of financial abuse, or where the client has lost the capacity to provide instructions.
3. Provide a legal safe harbour for investment firms and financial service providers who reach out to report suspicions of financial abuse or mental incapacity.
4. Create a conduct protocol that defines key terms and sets out the steps that firms and financial services representatives should take to identify and protect vulnerable clients.
5. Mandate education and training for all investment firms in the areas of elder abuse, undue influence, mental capacity issues, enduring powers of attorney and ageism, and have the required proficiencies.
6. Require that investment firms become familiar with outside resources and responders and learn how and when to refer a case of suspected elder financial abuse, undue influence or diminished mental capacity.

Currently, there are already a few organizations which provide fraud-related support for the elderly population. CPA Canada has a series of financial literacy programs to better arm aging Canadians and prevent fraud from happening. The CAFC also offers a SeniorBusters program which provides support and promotes awareness about financial elder abuse including investment scams and fraud. The Canadian Network for Prevention of Elder Abuse (CNPEA) also offers strategies for fraud protection.

Apart from staying alert and getting educated, the most important thing for the mature population to remember is that in case they became a victim of fraud, the first thing to do is to contact their financial institutions, Equifax and/or TransUnion to place a fraud alert on all their accounts.