The Trudeau government could not verify whether the billions of taxpayer dollars it pours into senior benefits annually are providing tangible support, according to a new auditor general’s report.
The report on seniors benefits is one of five reports published by auditor general Karen Hogan on Monday.
Old Age Security will cost $88 billion next year, and the AG report projects that figure to more than double over the next 20 years to around $181.2 billion.
“The finding matters because Employment and Social Development Canada spends billions of dollars annually to provide supplemental income and other supports to seniors, including those with low incomes or with other vulnerabilities. Measuring the results of these programs is critical for the department to know whether results are improving as expected,” reads the report.
Support for seniors has been a hot topic of debate in federal politics and the report’s findings are sure to throw a wrench into the Liberals’ reputation on the matter, considering that the department most responsible for said programs “did not know whether the objectives of these programs were being met.”
“If the federal government is going to spend billions of our tax dollars, the least it could do is keep a tally,” Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation told True North.
“It shouldn’t be too much to ask that our government keep proper records when it spends our money. Taxpayers demand better financial management from Ottawa.”
Minister of Seniors Steven MacKinnon issued a statement in response to the AG report on Tuesday, saying that while “seniors in Canada have a broad range of needs” the majority wish to hold onto their “independence and to stay connected with their family, friends, and loved ones”
The minister’s statement went on to say that the New Horizons for Seniors Program will continue investing in local projects that support seniors, offering financial relief to projects that cost up to a maximum of $25,000.
MacKinnon said that these low-cost projects are being directly led by seniors and operated by local organizations that are embedded in different communities.
“Our government is committed to building a stronger and more inclusive society so that seniors across this country, no matter where they live, can age with dignity and with choice,” said MacKinnon.
The audit report reviewed the nearly 39,000 projects that the NHSP has funded since 2004, worth a combined $850 million and found poor tracking of how the projects ultimately delivered on their stated goals.
While Mackinnon stressed the importance of “properly managing taxpayers’ dollars” he said the government felt it necessary “to avoid government bureaucracy or overly complex reporting standards.”
However, the report noted that under the NHSP, “value-for-money concerns were noted in 44% of the projects that were funded from March 2022 to March 2024.”
“Some projects were not completed by the recipients, while others had indicated that some funding had been used on ineligible activities,” reads the report.
“Information in the New Horizons for Seniors Program project files often did not allow Employment and Social Development Canada to determine how many seniors benefitted from the program.”
