Seniors’ Report 2025 – Monitoring Key Indicators of Seniors’ Wellbeing in Newfoundland and Labrador

Office of the Seniors’ Advocate, Newfoundland and Labrador, just launched the Seniors’ Report 2025, Monitoring Key Indicators of Seniors’ Wellbeing in Newfoundland and Labrador (Seniors’ Report 2025). The recently released report is Volume Two of the annual report series, which provides a comprehensive profile of the well-being of seniors in Newfoundland and Labrador related to their Individual Health, Health Care, Finances, Housing, Transportation, and Safety and Protection. The accompanying Seniors’ Report 2025: Data Tables ensures transparency and the use of this data by others interested in learning about and the well-being of seniors in this province.

Screenshot of report below (credit to Office of the Senior Advocate NL)

As you notice in the report, there are some positive findings in this report, such as 88% of seniors report satisfaction with their lives, only 5% of seniors live in assisted living, personal care homes and long-term care and 89% of seniors continue to drive. However, the data overwhelmingly find that the well-being of seniors in Newfoundland and Labrador lags behind the Canadian average in all areas. For example, half of all seniors in this province have an income below $29,710, which is the lowest median income in Canada, and 44% receive the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), a measure of poverty, reaching 52% to 56% in Western, Eastern Rural, and Central, respectively. Seniors’ food insecurity rose by 5% in the last year, and the waitlist for hip and knee surgery increased by 199% over the last 5 years and the surgery rates are not nearly keeping pace with the demand.

Monitoring these indicators is critically important to support seniors’ wellbeing and ensure that appropriate and adequate services are available to meet their needs. This information, while certainly helpful to support the systemic advocacy work of the OSA, is also available to government, community organizations, researchers, and the public, to educate and inform.

Report: https://www.seniorsadvocatenl.ca/pdfs/SeniorsReport2025.pdf

Data Tables: https://www.seniorsadvocatenl.ca/pdfs/DataTables2025.pdf