Calgary seniors face service gaps as city program ends

For nearly 30 years, 86-year-old Lorraine Barton has called a quiet street in Calgary’s Bowness neighborhood home. She still hosts family gatherings, but maintaining her yard has become impossible due to a limp.

“

It’s special, especially with all your grandchildren, great-grandchildren… I have a 25-year-old great-grandchild, even.

Barton, along with hundreds of other Calgary seniors, has relied on the city's Home Services for Seniors Program for over a decade. The program provided essential services like grass cutting, snow shoveling, and housekeeping for eligible residents.

Earlier this summer, the city announced it would stop administering the program. Seniors are being transitioned to the province's Special Needs Assistance for Seniors (SNA) system. The City of Calgary stated it could no longer manage the increasingly complex, provincially funded program, which also required city tax dollars.

“

We had no choice in the matter but to discontinue the service because of the July 1st changes by the provincial government to the eligibility for seniors.

"We had no choice in the matter but to discontinue the service because of the July 1st changes by the provincial government to the eligibility for seniors," said Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas. Each year, Alberta adjusts the maximum income threshold for SNA recipients. This year's change made Barton ineligible for "secondary items" like yard maintenance.

“

I’d be stuck in here, I’d feel like a prisoner… they’re not treating us very well.

Barton fears the coming winter. "I’d be stuck in here, I’d feel like a prisoner… they’re not treating us very well," she said. Minister of Assisted Living and Social Services Nathan Neudorf stated the province aims to balance program financing with a growing senior population, assuring that supports are available. However, the data shows a decrease in the maximum income threshold for eligibility, even as the number of eligible seniors has increased.

“

They can still get lots of supports. We can help them through it through our team. But we have to make sure that the sustainability of this program is consistent and it does match people’s income to the best of our abilities.