The Manitoba government is launching a grant program to help eligible seniors pay for hearing aids.
The province announced the $12.6 million program, which will help cover the cost of testing, fitting and purchasing new hearing aids, Thursday.
“Hearing aids provide valuable benefits to improve quality of life in a number of important ways such as fully participating with family, friends and co-workers, while also avoiding the isolation that can be associated with hearing loss,” Seniors and Long-term Care Minister Scott Johnston said in a release.
The program will offer grants of up to $2,000 to Manitobans 65 years of age and over with a family income below $80,000 in the previous year. Eligible seniors must also have documented hearing loss and have been prescribed hearing aids by an audiologist or otolaryngologist.
The program will begin accepting applications later this spring, the government said.
Government data shows nearly 4,000 seniors over the age of 65 reported hearing loss during a visit to a doctor in 2021 and roughly 25 per cent of seniors have a level of hearing loss that would benefit from hearing aid use.