VICTORIA – Victoria-Swan Lake MLA Rob Fleming welcomed an almost $15,000 grant from the province that will support seniors in living active, socially engaged and independent lives by making Saanich more age-friendly.

“This grant allows the new Cedar Hill Social Club to expand their social, cultural and physical activity programs for seniors in Saanich,” said Fleming. “We know that loneliness and isolation are major factors in the mental and physical health of seniors, and so I can’t overstate the importance of these kind of social clubs. Grants like this go a long way toward keeping seniors in our community healthy and connected.”

The local investment is part of the approximately $587,000 in age-friendly grants being provided to B.C. communities in 2018. MLA Fleming said the number of communities that have received grants has almost doubled since 2017 and he is glad that people in Saanich will benefit from projects focused on accessibility, physical activity and aging well.

The age-friendly communities grant program is a partnership between the Province and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities and in September 2017, local governments were invited to apply. MLA Fleming said these age-friendly grants will work to accommodate the changing needs of older residents in Saanich while also contributing to the creation of sustainable, healthy communities for all British Columbians.

Today’s announcement builds on other significant investments the new government is making to support seniors:

• investing $548 million over three years to improve care for seniors: adding more specialized primary care services, helping seniors stay in their homes longer with home and community care, and improving the quality of care in residential care homes;
• increasing support from the Shelter Aid for Elderly Residents (SAFER) rental assistance program by an average of $930 per year;
• eliminating MSP Premiums and expanding Fair PharmaCare coverage, including eliminating deductibles for families with net annual incomes under $30,000;
• restoring the 100% seniors discount, that the BC Liberal government cut, on ferry fares from Monday to Thursday;
• and launching a new surgical strategy to reduce wait times for hip and knee surgeries by increasing the number of surgeries performed in 2018-19 by 34%.

Learn More:

More information about age-friendly BC can be found by visiting: http://www.gov.bc.ca/agefriendly