Enjoying their “golden years” is becoming an unattainable dream for many British Columbian seniors. Access to subsidized housing is beyond difficult while affordable private market rental options are vanishing due to skyrocketing rents, evictions, renovictions, and redevelopments. In BC’s Interior, low-income seniors in Kelowna, Penticton, and Kamloops who are homeless or on the brink of homelessness can access housing navigation and other supports through the provincial Seniors Housing Information and Navigation Ease (SHINE BC) program. Funded by the Ministry of Health and managed by the Seniors Services Society of BC, SHINE has helped find housing for thousands of British Columbian seniors.

The Seniors Outreach & Resource Centre in Kelowna is one of the original SHINE program partners and Meghan Mckenzie is its housing navigator. She works to help low-income seniors find housing or to make their current housing more affordable by ensuring they are receiving all the benefits they are entitled to. In 2024, the centre responded to 1,102 calls and visits, provided case management support to 108 participants, and helped 66 seniors secure more stable rental housing.

“It’s very difficult to find housing for seniors in Kelowna,” said Meghan. “Costs are the biggest barrier but there’s also ageism… a lot of people are not interested in renting to seniors. Many places require online applications, and you have to be ready to respond to emails and text messages. Many seniors aren’t tech savvy that way.”

Meghan worries about the increasing number of seniors she meets who are homeless.

“The people we’re seeing rarely have substance use issues; they’re just vulnerable low-income people. They’ve often worked hard all their lives. They may have had a sudden drastic change in their health, or they’ve literally just carried on working full-time because their pension income isn’t enough. If they don’t have other savings or home equity they just truly cannot afford to live here.”

Meghan describes SHINE as a much-needed service and notes how grateful her clients are to learn about resources they were unaware of and to not feel alone while trying to find a place to live.

Further south in Penticton, where vacancy rates are even lower, OneSky Community Resources has been a SHINE partner since 2023. Team Leader for Seniors Services Patricia Tribe and Community Connector, Seniors Wellness, Jennifer King speak for their organization.

“Penticton is a growing city and, for a long time, a popular retirement destination,” said Jennifer, “but the housing crisis is definitely here, and affordable homes are out of reach for many low-income seniors.”

“We are expecting over the next 10 years that close to 40 per cent of our population will be over the age of 60,” added Patricia. “That’s a very high percentage and the need for affordable low-income housing will be acute.”

Many of OneSky’s SHINE clients are having to move from long-term rentals where they have paid reasonable rents for many years. With landlords able to set rents for new tenants at whatever the market will bear, many evicted seniors are facing rental increases of 30 to 40 per cent.

“Before becoming part of SHINE, we weren’t able to help seniors to the extent that we can now,” said Patricia. “We’re able to do more in-depth work with clients ranging from referrals to taking them to viewings.”

“Housing is a fundamental human need,” said Jennifer. “Access to housing affects our health, especially as we age. Having a safe, accessible home helps seniors age in place and be part of a community rather than going from crisis to crisis and being a strain on the system.”

One of the newest SHINE partners is Interior Community Services in Kamloops; it joined in July 2025. “There’s a need in our community to help seniors,” said ICS’s Manager of Housing and Tenant Relations Ashley Eaton. “Before SHINE, I had a lot of seniors coming in the door who required housing, support, little things like filling out the application forms, understanding what BC Housing is. I didn’t have the resources and capacity to sit with them the way that our new SHINE housing navigator is able to.”

That housing navigator is Felicia Mancini. Since starting in July, she has met with about 30 clients and is assessing the needs of the community and finding out about different programs available to low-income seniors.

“It’s extremely difficult to find housing here and from what I’ve seen and am hearing from the shelters, homelessness among seniors in Kamloops is increasing rapidly,” she said. “Once they stop working and they don’t have a pension, their CPP, OAS and GIS are not enough to cover their basic needs. Many of them aren’t aware of what programs and systems are in place for seniors.”

Both Felicia and Ashley believe being part of the SHINE partnership will be beneficial for Kamloops.
“I’d like to see SHINE implement a province-wide database so all the housing navigators could share information more rigorously,” added Ashley. “It would also be great if some funding could go towards providing partners with portable rent subsidies to help clients get through a crisis.”

“It’s heartbreaking to hear stories of seniors who have worked all their lives and yet find themselves on the verge of homelessness or homeless for the first time in their sixties or seventies,” said SSSBC CEO Alison Silgardo. “I hear often from other communities throughout the province that could benefit from SHINE funding and it’s our hope to be able to expand the program and offer more services.”