The New Brunswick government says they are working on rolling out specific programs to address the aging population challenge that the province is facing.
Recent Census numbers indicate the aging population issue in New Brunswick isn’t going away as one in five residents are over the age of 65.
Seniors and Long-Term Care Minister Lisa Harris said her government is committed to ensuring the issue is handled properly and that in depth review of the recently released Report on Aging remains underway.
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“We have their report, we’re getting ready to implement it,” Harris said. “From there we have a great framework that we’re going to be able to use to get us in the right direction.”
The New Brunswick Senior Citizens Federation president Leonard LeBlanc indicated that they have been consulted by Harris and the provincial government over how best to tackle the problem of an aging population, a topic he said affects more than just seniors.
“Government has got no money to build nursing homes at every street corner. Forget about that. They cant afford it and nobody can afford it,” LeBlanc said. “Government provincially, MLAs on both sides of the house, municipalities, families, everybody is going to have to get involved to make sure the aging population is well looked after.”
Harris cites government recruitment of employers and support for local entrepreneurs as ways they’re working towards bringing younger people to the province to help offset aging numbers, a move that should also provide more investment dollars for senior care.
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“We certainly do need to get more young people here in the province and that is definitely something that we’re working on,” Harris said.
Harris did not provide an exact timeline for programs to be rolled out but did advise she expects announcements to be made in the coming months.
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