Guardian Editorial: Responding to seniors' housing needs

Building in rural communities expands the housing options for Island seniors

The construction of a seniors-friendly apartment complex in Grand Tracadie is obviously good news for tenants who have already signed up to move in. But it’s encouraging on other fronts as well. If the developer of this complex is willing to build in a rural area, others may follow suit by providing similar housing in other small Island communities.

That bodes well for many seniors who now live outside Charlottetown and Summerside and, should they decide to leave their homes, have the option to remain in or near their communities. That’s progress we should build on.

There has always been a varying range of options for seniors who want to remain in the communities where they have lived, worked, raised families and engaged in church or community group activities. If they happen to live in Charlottetown or Summerside there are more choices of living arrangements that allow them to remain active and independent. But seniors in those rural communities that don’t offer many, or any, seniors-friendly housing options face uprooting themselves and re-establishing elsewhere, a challenge that can be daunting, if not traumatizing.

A new apartment complex under construction in Grand Tracadie by APM has been designed specifically for seniors, and it is already getting an enthusiastic response from future tenants. According to a recent story in this newspaper, a woman who lived in Pleasant Grove for 47 years is looking forward to moving into the new seniors-friendly apartment complex in Grand Tracadie, a kilometre away from her former home and close to her daughters.

This is real, tangible progress when it comes to responding to the seniors’ housing market. It not only meets seniors’ specific housing preferences or needs, it also has societal benefits. By being able to remain in or near the communities they’ve lived in for many years, seniors are more likely to remain connected to and involved with their communities. That’s healthy.

As well, such housing development can be a tool for retaining population and economic activity in rural P.E.I.

Hopefully we’ll see more seniors-friendly housing options spring up across the province.