B.C.’s Senior Advocate says at-home care needs to be much more affordable for seniors.

In a new report, Isobel Mackenzie says seniors are paying more than one-third of their income for one-to-two hours of care at home per day.

“We are charging our seniors too much for their provincial home support program. B.C. is one of the few provinces that charge for home support, and of the provinces that do charge, we are the most expensive. If your income in $26,000 dollars a year, your daily rate is going to be $20 dollars. You’re going to be charged $7,300 dollars a year for a once-daily, one-hour visit of home support, on an income of $26,000 dollars. I don’t have to point out, you still have to pay for everything else.”

Mackenzie says as a result there are 4,200 seniors in long-term care – 15 per cent – who could be living at home, and she says that is costing B.C. taxpayers an extra $27,740 per year for person, suggesting that total extra cost is more than $116.5 million per year.

She also says at-home care is precarious for workers, who often work casual and part-time.

Mackenzie has made a number of recommendations to the provincial government in her report to improve the state of at-home care in B.C.