Aging population puts working seniors in the spotlight
Vancouver meeting focuses on workers who want to stay on the job past age 65
Canada's federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for seniors have just wrapped up a meeting in Vancouver that B.C. Health Minister Terry Lake says focused mainly on keeping workers on the job past age 65.
Lake said the bulk of the talks centred on seniors who wish to stay on the job after the standard retirement age.
He says the knowledge and skills of older workers may not be easy to replace and governments should encourage employers to be flexible and add supports for older employees.
Part of what's driving the discussions is the fact that Canadians are now living longer than ever — on average to the age of 82, nine years longer than they did 50 years ago, according to Statistics Canada.
As well, 2015 marked the first year the number of people in Canada age 65 or older exceeded the number of children age 14 or under.
The ministers also discussed issues such as care givers for seniors, affordable housing and social inclusion.
Federal Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said the Trudeau government also hopes to announce a seniors price index that would determine old age security and guaranteed income supplement payments.
With files from Karin Larsen