A look at loneliness among seniors

Almost one in five Canadian seniors (19%) aged 65 and older reported experiencing loneliness in 2019 and 2020. Senior women were more likely to report being lonely than senior men (23% versus 15%), according to a recent study.

Nearly one in four seniors reporting barriers to social participation are lonely

Canadian seniors who never married (29%) or were widowed (31%), separated or divorced (32%) were over twice as likely to report being lonely as seniors who were married or in a common-law relationship (13%).

Canadian seniors in the lowest income group (25%) were much more likely to report being lonely than those in the highest income group (15%).

Seniors living in Canadians cities with 1 million or more people (21%) were more likely to report being lonely than those living in small towns with 1,000 people (17%).

Nearly one in four seniors reported barriers to social participation in 2019 and 2020, meaning they wanted to participate more in social, recreational or group activities. Those who reported barriers to social participation (38%) were almost three times as likely to be lonely as those who reported no social barriers (13%).

Canadians aged 85 or older were more likely to report loneliness (23%) in 2019 and 2020 than those aged 65 to 74 years (19%).

Loneliness among senior women increased during the pandemic

Senior women (21%) were more likely to be lonely than senior men (14%) prior to COVID-19 restrictions. When the pandemic hit in early 2020, the rate of loneliness among women rose 6 percentage points to 27% but did not differ significantly for men.

The higher rate of loneliness among senior women during the pandemic may be related to their greater concern about the pandemic, increased burden of caregiving roles and stricter adherence to physical distancing restrictions.

The higher prevalence of loneliness among senior women during the first year of the pandemic aligns with growing evidence of gender differences in loneliness during the pandemic.

Senior immigrants are more likely to be lonely than Canadian-born seniors

Senior European immigrants (22%) and senior non-European immigrants (22%) to Canada were more likely to report loneliness in 2019 and 2020 than Canadian-born seniors (18%).

Almost one in five non-European immigrant senior men (19%) reported being lonely—the highest level among senior men and 6 percentage points higher than Canadian-born senior men (13%). 

Over one in four European immigrant senior women (27%) reported being lonely, compared with just over one in five Canadian-born senior women (22%).

Seniors who immigrated to Canada as adults (from age 18 to 44) and long-term immigrants (20 years in Canada or more) were at a higher risk of loneliness than Canadian-born seniors.

Understanding the association between immigrant status and loneliness among older Canadians is especially relevant, given that immigrants comprise almost one-third (30%) of the population aged 65 or older, compared with 23% of the total population.

The full report entitled "Immigrant status and loneliness among older Canadians" is now available.