Today, Steven MacKinnon, Minister of Seniors, issued the following statement regarding the audit of Programs to Assist Seniors by the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) as part of the overall performance audits of Government Services and Programs:
"Our government is committed to building a stronger and more inclusive society so that seniors across this country, no matter where they live, can age with dignity and with choice.
Seniors in Canada have a broad range of needs, but most share a few common goals: to maintain their independence and to stay connected with their family, friends, and loved ones.
While the measures that support these goals can be found in many federal departments and agencies, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) acts as the federal focal point for seniors' issues. ESDC regularly uses several mechanisms to collaborate with other departments to advance the development of policies and programs that meet the evolving needs of Canada's seniors, from coast to coast to coast, while respecting the authority of other Ministers for programs that serve seniors within their respective portfolios.
First and foremost, among these programs is the Old Age Security program, or OAS. For more than 70 years, it has been a fundamental pillar of financial support for Canada's seniors. For many of its first beneficiaries, particularly women, OAS provided them the first source of financial freedom they had known in their lives; even today, millions of Canadians either benefit from it, or plan to during their own retirements. While the program is not intended to meet all of seniors' financial needs, it plays an essential role in reducing seniors' poverty.
As the OAG acknowledged in the report, ESDC regularly conducted thorough policy analysis on the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) for low-income seniors during the review period, which influenced recent program changes. This includes increasing the GIS for single seniors in 2016 and enhancing the GIS earnings exemption in 2020. ESDC also conducts policy analysis on the OAS pension, which was paid to 7.4 million seniors last month. This analysis has contributed to government measures for seniors, including the recent 10% OAS increase for seniors aged 75 and over in 2022.
To help ensure the program is still fit to financially support modern-day seniors and that it continues to play an essential role in reducing seniors' poverty, ESDC will strengthen its analysis on how the OAS program is performing in the context of the different pillars of the Canadian retirement income system.
Our government is also committed to creating opportunities for seniors to be more connected, supported, and active members of their communities. Through the community-based stream of the New Horizons for Seniors Program (NHSP), the Government is investing in local projects that support seniors, improve their quality of life, and foster vibrant communities.
The Community-based stream of the NHSP program, which invests in projects that cost up to a maximum of $25,000, is an important one. These low-cost projects are led directly by seniors and run by small, local organizations embedded in communities. While properly managing taxpayers' dollars, we have to avoid government bureaucracy or overly complex reporting standards. Indeed, because these projects are intended to benefit seniors, including vulnerable seniors, our reporting measures exceed the requirements generally set by the Treasury Board Secretariat for small grants.
ESDC will continue to improve the quality of information on the NHSP, review our approach to results reporting for the Community-based Grants, and strengthen our internal file management.
I want to thank the Auditor General, Karen Hogan, and her office for the report and recommendations, which will guide the work ahead.
