Seniors’ Advocate Susan Walsh says data they have collected around crime rates against seniors has been backed up by stories they are hearing throughout communities.

Walsh released her 2025 report looking at the wellbeing of seniors yesterday.

It states that over the last five years there has been a 64 per cent increase in criminal violations against seniors, and the number of referrals to victim services had more than doubled.

Walsh says those numbers are backed up by what she has heard in communities she has visited – especially in rural areas. She says people are afraid to go out at night, afraid that their home will be broken into, and that they aren’t turning off their lights at night to deter criminals. Walsh says they are also hearing of long response times from police.

“We heard about a situation when I was on the Northern Peninsula where actually had to take action as a community themselves against a perpetrator because the police weren’t going to get there for over a day.”