The Office of the Seniors’ Advocate has released a report into what they heard during consultations with Seniors, Family Members and/or Caregivers, and Service Providers.

The office describes the response from those engaged as “overwhelming and unprecedented,” with 1,300 seniors and almost 200 family members and service providers having their say.

The report identifies access to healthcare, the cost of living, and aging in their own homes as the top concerns.

On healthcare, seniors cite challenges accessing primary health care and wait times as their most frequently unmet health care needs

As for the cost of living, they say 32 per cent of seniors do not have enough money to meet their needs. Forty per cent of those are unable to afford food, and 60 per cent report going without food.

On that some note, the report notes that financial restraints are resulting in seniors not purchasing required medical devices and supplies, personal items, and dietary requirements. As well, 60 per cent are saying they are unable to attend social events.

Seniors’ Advocate Susan Walsh says 14 per cent of respondents to the survey receive the guaranteed income supplement, and are thus the lowest income seniors in the province.

That means, according to Walsh, that there’s a group of seniors whose incomes are above the GIS that are struggling to get by.

She says that data debunks the “myth” that once people turn 65 and can access their provincial and federal benefits that they’ll be financially stable.

“It’s just not true” says Walsh.