Falling Through the Cracks

Abstract

Low-income preseniors represent a vulnerable, often overlooked population facing multiple challenges related to finding and sustaining employment, limited financial resources, mental and physical health challenges, mobility issues, and ineligibility for pensions and benefits for seniors. These issues make finding suitable, affordable housing particularly challenging when compounded with limited affordable housing stock, thus increasing this population’s risk for housing insecurity/homelessness. This qualitative, exploratory study examined subsidized housing issues for low-income preseniors from the perspective of subsidized housing providers ( n = 16). Barriers for this population occurred within individual (limited financial resources; complex health, mental health, and disability issues; current unsafe/inadequate housing; and new immigrant status) and structural (strict age cutoffs, inadequate safe/affordable housing supply, lack of information about the housing and service needs of the population, and ineffective collaboration within the sector) domains. Policy changes at the provincial and federal levels related to income support, availability of affordable housing supports, and immigration are recommended.