By Charlene Callaghan.
A couple dozen seniors will have new homes when the City of Vaughan completes its 84-unit, $19-million affordable housing building in Maple.
But that?s only if they are at the top of the waiting list.
Eleven-thousand people in York Region are waiting for rent-geared-to-income affordable housing, which makes the average wait time for seniors four to six years, according to a report released by the region.
It comes down to supply and demand, says Sylvia Patterson, York?s director of housing services.
?There?s not enough social housing to meet the demands of people,? she said. ?There are more people who need (housing) than there is housing.?
In March, 1,023 seniors were waiting for affordable housing in Vaughan, says Gabe Tropea, York Region?s manager of housing development and homelessness initiatives.
That number has since jumped to 1,217, says Monica Bryce, the region?s manager of program funding and communications.
Area seniors are facing a deplorable situation, Thornhill MPP Peter Shurman says.
?Seniors live their whole lives providing and deserve some breaks in life,? Shurman said. ?Some seniors don?t have four to six years to wait (for affordable housing).?
The bureaucratic process is too slow, he added.
Statistics Canada?s 2006 census data indicates 32,430 seniors aged 60 and above live in Vaughan.
The region?s report indicates that of the 1,800 housing applications completed in 2007, about 1,200 were cancelled ?due to the applicants failing to respond to the annual information update request?.
?It?s provincial policy to remove people from the list if they cannot be contacted or fail to fill out application information annually,? Patterson said.
Applicants are contacted regularly, she adds.
But Shurman disagrees with this process.
?(Seniors) are losing their place in line for not filling out a form that they may not be capable of filling out in the first place,? Shurman said.
Representatives from Friuli Benevolent, Legion Wood Apartments and OHR Somayach Residential Centre ? three of the seven affordable housing facilities for seniors in Vaughan ? each say their wait times are over five years.
Though seniors can apply for affordable housing as early as 58 years old, Patterson says a wait time is inevitable.
The best thing seniors can do is get on every waiting list possible, she says.