Seniors on the margins Seniors from ethnocultural minorities

Preface

By 2021, seniors will form 18% of Canada's population, compared to 12.5% in 2000. This aging of Canada's population supposes a need for responsive policies, programs and services to serve the growing number of Canadian seniors. While general consciousness of this need is rising and some changes are very slowly taking shape to address them, we need to ask if the effort to adapt our society takes into account the seniors of Canada who are not part of the mainstream... those from ethnic minorities, those who have lived with developmental disabilities, those with low incomes, etc.

According to a UNESCO definition, "marginalization occurs when people are systematically excluded from meaningful participation in economic, social, political, cultural and other forms of human activity in their communities and thus are denied the opportunity to fulfill themselves as human beings." In this land of equal opportunity, how are seniors on the margins faring?

The NACA publication series Seniors on the margins looks at the situation of those Canadian seniors who, because they are not part of the majority, may not have access to the resources needed to age in comfort and health. In each paper of this series, NACA examines the causes and key issues of marginalization and proposes strategies and recommendations to remedy the situation. This paper looks into the situation of Canadian seniors from ethnocultural minorities.

National Advisory Council on Aging

Introduction

Canada's population is not only aging, it is also becoming increasingly diverse: more than 200 ethnic groups were reported in the 2001 Census. Yet for the most part, aging-related programs and policies continue to treat the seniors population as a homogeneous group and the variety of needs, concerns and histories of ethnocultural minority seniors often go unrecognized.

The purpose of this document is to examine the key challenges and disadvantages that ethnocultural minority seniors can face in terms of income, health, health care and family and community support, and to recommend policy directions to ensure that they have the same opportunity for health and well-being as other seniors in Canada.

Definitions

The term "ethnocultural minority senior" refers here to:

• seniors whose ethnicity, religion, race or culture are different from mainstream Canadians (including those born in and outside of Canada)
• immigrants* who have aged in Canada
• seniors who immigrated to Canada late in life

Each of these sub-populations of ethnocultural minority seniors will have different issues and experiences that impact on their health and well-being. For example, a senior who has recently immigrated to Canada will face challenges that are different from a senior who immigrated 30 years ago. A Canadian-born senior who is a member of a visible minority will, in turn, face different issues than a senior who immigrated but does not belong to a visible minority. Nevertheless, as members of an ethnocultural minority, these groups share the reality of being set apart from the majority, one way or another, and this reality can create barriers that leave them at risk for being marginalized.

Overview

Canada's older population reflects the aging of long-established immigrants who came to Canada during the first half of the 20^th century; in fact, the majority of the older immigrant population have been in Canada a long time. There is also a smaller senior immigrant population that settled in Canada late in life. In addition, a sizeable group of immigrants are now close to entering their senior years.

Because of changing immigration patterns, immigrant provenance has shifted from Europe to Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The result is that Canada now has a population made up of very diverse cultures, religions and languages. To illustrate, by 1994, Europe accounted for only 17% of immigration whereas immigrants from Asia accounted for 57%. The visible immigrant population is growing at a faster rate than the total population. Between 1996 and 2001, the total population grew by 4% while the visible minority population rose by 25%. The Canadian visible minority population is expected to increase to 7.1 million in 2026, from 2.7 million in 1996.

This is why it is so crucial to understand the challenges that ethnocultural minority seniors face and that can put them at risk for "living on the margins." In developing policies and programs for an aging Canadian society, ethnic and cultural diversity needs to be taken into account.

*The term "immigrant" refers to a person who is, or has been, a landed immigrant in Canada. A "landed immigrant" is a person who has been granted the right to live in Canada permanently by immigration authorities. The term includes refugees. "Recent immigrants" or "new immigrants" refer to people who gained landed immigrant status between one and five years ago. (Statistics Canada, 2001 Census Dictionary).

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