Diverse Cities, Diverse Needs
Cultural expectations around caregiving, language preferences, and community support networks can all influence how older adults interact with nursing and residential care services. Toronto and Vancouver have the most diverse senior populations among the six cities, with large shares of Asian adults aged 65 and older. These groups make up about 40.2% of seniors in Vancouver and 32.9% in Toronto, which is roughly three to four times higher than in the other cities where the senior population is predominantly white. Research suggests that some immigrant communities are less likely to enter nursing homes and may rely more heavily on family based care, which can affect how facility demand appears across cities.
Ethnic diversity helps provide context for differences in facility counts and highlights the importance of culturally responsive care environments that reflect the needs of diverse aging communities. However, even when facilities exist and reflect the needs of local populations, access to care still depends on whether residents can afford available services. We next explore how income interacts with access to nursing facilities.