What Are Westside Seniors Hub Members Doing About Housing for Seniors?
Westside Seniors Hub (WSH) members and partners are actively engaged in advocacy, policy review, research, community education, and collaboration to improve housing security and affordability for seniors on Vancouver’s West Side and beyond. Recognizing the growing housing challenges facing older adults, WSH continues to prioritize housing advocacy as a central area of focus and action.
Housing Initiative
Early 2024, our Hub Partner Organizations indicated that a shortage of appropriate housing for seniors was a top priority, especially for tenants and landlords affected by rapid housing development envisioned in the Broadway Plan area.
We developed a Briefing Note on Seniors summarizing concerns about senior tenants being negatively impacted by developments in the Vancouver housing market and the actions and support needed for this vulnerable population.
We sent the Briefing Note to key staff of BC Housing, Vancouver Coastal Health, the City of Vancouver, and a Westside MLA candidate for re-election and arranged meetings to discuss it with them.
Click here for a 2024 timeline with details of activities
In 2025, after a March presentation to the City’s Older Persons and Elders Advisory Committee (OPEAC) about the City’s Tenant Relocation and Protection Policy (TRPP), we focused on advocacy as members of OPEAC’s Housing Subcommittee. An analysis of the TRPP indicated that current tenants of non-market housing are handled differently from tenants of market housing, and low- to moderate-income seniors would likely need additional supports to be successful in finding and relocating to appropriate housing.
Click here for a 2025 timeline with details of activities
The TRPP is being reviewed by City staff in 2026. Hub Council members are working with OPEAC’s Housing Subcommittee members on preparing a set of recommendations based on analyses of Planning Department reports and expert analyses of them.
We are also beginning to gauge community support for home sharing options that SFU’s Hey Neighbour Collective tested in a 2024 pilot project Seniors Housing Navigator. We have identified Canada Homeshare‘s Happipad platform, sponsored by HelpAge Canada, as an option already available in Vancouver and deserving of wider awareness.