Senior home repair program ‘paused’ due to low uptake

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Citing low uptake, the Holt Liberal government has “paused” a home repair program aimed at helping seniors live at home longer.

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A “comprehensive review” of the Senior Minor Home Repair Grant program is now expected to take place to ensure it’s “better aligned with the current needs of New Brunswick seniors,” according to René Doucette, spokesperson with the Department of Social Development.

Through the program, eligible low-income seniors have received grants of up to $1,500 for home safety upgrades. Those upgrades can include the installation of home entrance ramps, handrails or grab bars for hallways and stairways, and non-slip shower flooring, among other modifications.

Only 43 seniors accessed the grant program in 2024-25, according to the Department of Social Development. About $60,000 was handed out that fiscal year.

The program was officially paused on April 1, but anyone who has received a Home First review and was referred to the grant program can still submit applications until Aug. 30, according to the province.

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“Our government remains focused on identifying best practices and exploring new approaches to help seniors access support to age in place,” Doucette said in an email.

Opposition social development critics are calling for the return of the program with a better emphasis on promotion from the government.

“I know that there are many seniors out there that need these supports, so I think that they should bring it back and ensure they promote it and make the program accessible,” said Green MLA Megan Mitton, who is also her party’s seniors critic.

“So often, especially when it comes, frankly, to social development programs, it’s not even clear that they exist or how to access them.”

Progressive Conservative MLA Margaret Johnson learned the extent of the information-sharing gap through a series of events she held for seniors in her riding of Carleton-Victoria last year.

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These Spotlight on Seniors seminars brought together officials to share details about federal, provincial and local government programming available to older adults.

“It showed there’s a real gap in getting information into the hands of seniors,” said Johnson, who is also the PCs’ seniors critic.

“We say, ‘Oh, go look it up online,’ or, ‘Check out this website,’ and… not just seniors but there are a lot of people that just aren’t comfortable with getting their information online.”

Johnson is “thrilled” the government is reviewing the program.

“They’re not throwing the baby out with the bath water yet, so it’s a matter of what we can do to better deliver service, so I’m very excited that they’re actually going do that – they’re going to do a close examination of it,” said Johnson, who asked questions about the program during main estimates on the Holt government’s first budget.

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Last month, the Liberals revealed that they’d be delaying a planned $50 increase to the monthly comfort and clothing allowance for seniors who live in long-term care homes across the province.

That increase was expected to come into effect for 2025-26, according to the Liberals’ election commitment filings, but it will now start in the 2026-27 fiscal year.

Lyne Chantal Boudreau, the minister responsible for seniors, didn’t provide an explanation for the delayed campaign promise when she appeared before a legislative committee to answer questions about her government’s spending plan for seniors.

Last September, the then Higgs Progressive Conservative hiked the monthly allowance to $150, up from $108, for nursing home residents, and to $190, up from $135, for special-care home residents and for eligible social assistance recipients.

On the campaign trail, the Liberals promised to go further, raising the $150 monthly rate by an additional $50 at a cost of $3.97 million annually for the next four years.

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