Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island – Employment and Social Development Canada

The Honourable Alice Wong, Minister of State (Seniors), announced today New Horizons for Seniors Program (NHSP) funding worth more than $23,000 to Family Service PEI for its Elder Financial Abuse Resource Tool Project.

Family Service PEI’s project aims to recruit seniors to participate in designing a website that features a resource toolkit on financial abuse. The online toolkit will promote awareness, detection and prevention of financial abuse. It will be tailored to the needs of seniors, their family and friends, as well as professionals who work with seniors. Seniors will also help develop hands-on training and a self-learning brochure.

The Government of Canada has made combatting elder abuse a top priority and is addressing elder abuse through awareness activities, legislation and the NHSP.

The Government of Canada is providing more than $33.4 million in funding for over 1,770 community-based projects across Canada. These projects were approved through the NHSP 2013–2014 Call for Proposals for Community-Based Projects. NHSP-funded projects help ensure that seniors maintain a good quality of life and are able to be active, participating members of their communities.

Quick Facts

• Economic Action Plan 2014 recently increased funding for the NHSP by $5 million per year. This is in addition to the $45 million the Government already provides to this program annually.
• Since 2006, the NHSP has funded more than 13,000 projects in hundreds of communities across Canada. NHSP funding supports projects that focus on issues like elder abuse, social isolation and intergenerational learning.
• On May 13, 2014, Minister Wong launched the NHSP 2014–2015 Call for Proposals for Community-Based Projects. Through this call for proposals, which is now closed, organizations may receive up to $25,000 in grant funding for projects that are led or inspired by seniors.
• To better protect seniors from mistreatment such as fraud and financial abuse, the Government has passed or introduced legislation such as the Digital Privacy Act to amend the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).
• A brochure on powers of attorney and joint bank accounts was released in November 2013 by the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Ministers Responsible for Seniors Forum to inform seniors about the risks, benefits and possible unintended consequences of opening a joint bank account or granting someone a power of attorney.
• The Government of Canada’s website, seniors.gc.ca, provides seniors, their families and caregivers with important information and resources about elder abuse.
• The Government of Canada launched the Government of Canada Action for Seniors report in September 2014. The report is a new information resource highlighting federal programs and services that can be accessed by seniors, their families and caregivers. It was created in collaboration with more than 22 federal departments and agencies. The report can be found onseniors.gc.ca.

Quotes

“This is a wonderful example of how the New Horizons for Seniors Program helps put partnerships in place, allowing seniors to become more informed about financial abuse and better equipped to deal with it. By supporting projects such as these, we are acting to ensure that seniors can maintain a good quality of life and continue to be active members of their communities.”

– The Honourable Alice Wong, Minister of State (Seniors)

“This funding has allowed Family Service PEI to work with PEI seniors to create a website featuring a financial resource toolkit with supportive print materials. Information on the site will address the specific financial needs of PEI’s aging population. The project is designed to educate and empower seniors themselves, encouraging them to utilize available resources to take a proactive approach to protecting themselves financially. When we increase financial literacy at any age, we decrease a person’s vulnerability and subsequently help prevent financial abuse.”

– Ellan Dickieson, Education and Outreach Specialist, Family Service PEI