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The Daily


Wednesday, May 30, 2007
2004/2005

Only 1 out of every 30 seniors aged 65 and over lived in one of Canada's 1,952 homes for the aged in the fiscal year 2004/2005, according to new data from the Residential Care Facilities Survey.

Data for all provinces and territories, except Quebec, show that nearly 151,000 seniors, 3.4% of the total, resided in a home for the aged in 2004/2005. (The distribution of residents of facilities in Quebec by age group and sex was not available.)

Senior women were nearly twice as likely as senior men to live in a home for the aged. Of the total, 106,100 were women and only 44,700 were men.

The vast majority (over 90%) of residents in homes for the aged lived in facilities with at least 50 beds. More than 70% were in facilities that had 100 beds or more.

The likelihood of living in such a facility rose dramatically with age. About 7% of seniors aged 75 and older lived in a home for the aged in 2004/2005. This proportion more than doubled to 16% in the oldest group (85 and older).

Nearly 18% of women aged 85 and over lived in a home for the aged, compared with only 12% of men. This is partly explained by the fact that older men are nearly twice as likely as older women to be married or living common-law. The protective effects of marriage for men, including the provision of social support, have been widely observed in research.

In total, Canada's residential care industry consisted of 4,199 facilities across Canada, with 230,600 residents. These facilities employed 110,500 full-time and 97,500 part-time workers, who received $8.3 billion in salaries and wages in 2004/2005.

The 1,952 homes for the aged represented less than one-half (46%) of residential care facilities in Canada. However, they accounted for 82% of residents and 78% of the revenue generated.

The second largest group of residential care facilities consisted of 1,951 facilities for people with mental disorders. They had 14% of residents.

A third miscellaneous category, which served just under 8,000 residents, consisted of facilities such as homes for transient people and homes for emotionally disturbed children.

Homes for the aged alone generated about $10 billion in revenue in 2004/2005, about the same as the amount of expenses. Facilities for people with mental disorders had revenues and expenses of only $2.1 billion, while facilities in the miscellaneous category generated a little more than $500 million in revenue.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 3210.

The publication Residential Care Facilities (83-237-XWE, free) is now available from the Publications module of our website.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Baudelaire Augustin (613-951-6083; baudelaire.augustin@statcan.gc.ca) or David Coish (613-951-4800; david.coish@statcan.gc.ca). For general information, contact Client Services (613-951-1746; fax: 613-951-4198; hd-ds@statcan.gc.ca), Health Statistics Division.