Containment brings its share of inconvenience. However, confinement without internet access is a challenge.
During the pandemic, we have seen the impact of digital connectivity on the elderly. Some of them were unable to participate in virtual family reunions. Still others found themselves starving, unable to order groceries online. It remains to be seen how elderly citizens will navigate with the new vaccination passport. Even if during the municipal campaign, issues specific to the elderly were on the agenda, there were glaring oversights.
For many seniors, including those living in low-income housing in Montreal, the digital divide is a grim reality.
Here’s an idea: the City of Montreal should invest in WiFi in low-rental housing for seniors in our city. This would remove a major barrier for people who suffer from the digital divide on a daily basis.
It must be noted that Internet access is far from being a simple question of age; it is linked to socioeconomic factors such as income, level of education and literacy rate. According to the Observatory on Quebec inequalities, 74% of seniors aged 65 or over are Internet users. This figure drops to 43% among seniors who earn less than $ 20,000 a year.
Another sad reality in Montreal is that the costs associated with telecommunications are higher in Canada than in almost any other developed country. When we asked older adults about the affordability of the internet in Montreal, they regularly told us that they cut corners on food to pay their internet bills. Others find the costs of the internet so prohibitive that they avoid digital technologies altogether. For them, because of their fixed income, the internet is an inaccessible luxury.
The fear of unpleasant surprises
Worse yet, many older people believe – and rightly so – that some telecommunications service providers take advantage of them because of their age. They are therefore reluctant to deal with telecommunications companies and fear having unpleasant surprises when the internet bill arrives at the end of each month.
Yet Montreal prides itself on being a “smart city”. Wouldn’t a smart city strategy bridge this digital divide? The digital switchover of buildings for low-income seniors would target this problem and may be part of a broader urban and social development strategy aimed at correcting a disparity that has persisted for too long.
Of course, deploying wireless networks in low-cost housing for the elderly supposes a financial commitment on the part of the City of Montreal. Yet we’re talking about the same city that won the $ 50 million top prize in Canada’s Smart Cities Challenge, with the promise of delivering cutting-edge digital solutions to tackle social issues. Do young people deserve more digital solutions adapted to the challenges they face?
Together, we can bridge this digital divide and include the elderly in the city of tomorrow, which should be a priority for a city that claims to be “smart” like Montreal.
Installing WiFi in low-rental housing for the elderly is certainly not a quick fix. Access to devices, training and ongoing support are all key elements in acquiring mastery of new technologies. In the aftermath of the pandemic, communities are making unprecedented efforts to connect older people to the internet.
Initiatives, large and small, are emerging all over the island with the aim of teaching digital technology to the elderly. Many of these projects are about building intergenerational connections and finding concrete steps to get these people to embrace digital technologies. The enthusiasm of the organizations is palpable, but most of these efforts face a common pitfall: older digital learners do not have WiFi access and cannot afford it!
We must demand from elected officials and government representatives that the digital divide is always on the agenda. We should expect more from our municipal government, whose actions are likely to have short-term and very tangible repercussions on the grim digital realities of seniors. He must hurry to develop an arsenal of solutions before the next crisis erupts. It’s time we started implementing smart policies that actually benefit those we have placed on the fringes of the digital society.
* Kim Sawchuk is also Professor of Communication at Concordia University.
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