Fewer seniors are now waiting for home support services, but those who wait will not necessarily be able to obtain the services they want in the next year, said the Minister responsible for Seniors, Sonia Bélanger, on Wednesday.
She was taking part in a national summit on home support in Quebec.
In his speech, Mr.me Bélanger indicated that the waiting list which was 21,000 people last year was reduced to 16,500 people as of March 31.
“We have managed to catch up with a significant gap over the last decade, we are ready to move on, in high speed mode,” she declared.
In an interview with The Canadian Press, the minister indicated that she was setting targets for the coming years. However, she said it will not be possible to eliminate the waiting list in the next year.
Home support is a thorny issue in Quebec with the aging of the population.
A report from the Commissioner for Health and Welfare published in January gave a worrying assessment of the state of the home support system.
In 2023, the system only met 10.7% of home support needs, said Commissioner Joanne Castonguay: it provided 25.4 million hours of services, while 234 million hours were required.
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