According to the news source, the number of people in Canadian senior living communities in 2001 was about 285,000 people, and by 2011 that number had expanded to more than 393,000- a growth of nearly 38 per cent. Today, about 8 percent of Canadian seniors live in some kind of senior living community. Ten years ago, it was 7 per cent.
Part of that growth is simply due to the aging demographics of Canada – with more seniors today than 10 years ago – but the population of senior living residents rose faster than the number of seniors living alone, which grew by 20 per cent, and the number of seniors living with a spouse or partner, which grew by 35 per cent.
Another interesting tidbit from the Canadian census is the finding that life expectancy among Canadian men is rising faster than among women, and as a result, a growing number of older women are living with a spouse or partner.