A new UBC study has found that Vancouver's aging Chinese population could soon be facing an assisted-living housing shortage. While Chinese immigrants have been a part of the city's history from the very beginning, Vancouver saw a huge influx of immigrants from Hong Kong in the late 1980s and mid1990s before the former British colony returned to China's control.
None of them are getting any younger, and an estimated 3,300 Chinese-Canadian seniors will likely require some form of assisted housing over the next 15 years.
The study, a joint effort between the Centre for Urban Economics and the Sauder School of Business, found that there will soon be a growing demand for "affordable culturally and linguistically appropriate assisted living options" far greater than any those affecting other ethnic communities. The report was sponsored by a grant from the Chinatown Foundation for Community Revitalization, a non-profit whose board of directors include several people-including UBC Chancellor Emeritus Bob Lee, former UBC head surgeon Wallace Chung and SFU Chancellor Emeritus Brandt Louie-whose ancestors were involved in the construction of Chinatown more than a century ago.
"Helping to create more seniors housing in Chinatown is a good way to help the foundation achieve its mission to make Chinatown more vibrant and prosperous while preserving its cultural heritage," said foundation chair Carol Lee in a prepared statement.
Chinese-Canadians comprise the largest visible ethnic minority in the city, which Statistics Canada says makes up more than 17 per cent of the nearly 2.5 million people living in Metro Vancouver. Vancouver is also home to the second-largest Chinatown in North America after San Francisco. "[The report] confirms the dire need for more ethnic-appropriate options for senior housing, especially for our most vulnerable Chinesespeaking seniors who require some form of assisted housing services," said Thomas Tam, CEO of the SUCCESS Foundation, a charity that helps run the private Simon K.Y. Lee Senior Care Home in Chinatown. He added that the 103-bed facility already has a long waiting list to get in and more places like it are urgently needed. Harmony House, which is run by Vancouver Coastal Health and is the only other similar care facility in Chinatown, offers 33 assisted-living units.
Henry Tom, chair of the Vancouver Chinatown Revitalization Committee (VCRC), wants new care homes catering to the residents in the historic neighbourhood. "The study validates one of the key recommendations of the Chinatown Vision [adopted by city council in 2002] for more Chinese seniors housing in Chinatown," said Tom. "Continuing VCRC work on the Chinatown Plan and the Vancouver Chinatown Economic Revitalization Plan will call for increased public, private and Family Associations investment in assisted and market seniors housing in Chinatown."
A follow-up study at UBC is currently underway to determine the possibilities for creating enough units in the Chinatown area to meet the rising demand.
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