FEWO meeting 33 · 2026-04-21 — Committee Evidence — LegisWatch

Summary

The House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women met to study the financial vulnerability and abuse of senior women. Appearing as witnesses were Bénédicte Schoepflin, Executive Director of the Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse; Loriane Estienne, Director General of Proche aidance Québec; and Deborah Rose, Executive Director of the Edmonton Aboriginal Seniors Centre. Later in the meeting, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Sean Fraser, appeared to discuss Bill C-16, the protecting victims act.

Bénédicte Schoepflin stated that one in ten older adults in Canada experiences mistreatment each year, with older women disproportionately affected, and that economic abuse, often through misuse of powers of attorney, is a key concern that restricts access to resources and undermines autonomy. She recommended establishing a coordinated federal approach to elder abuse prevention, investing in public awareness, strengthening safety support systems like shelters adapted for older women, increasing support for caregivers, and ensuring federal initiatives adopt an intersectional approach that includes older women in gender-based violence frameworks.

Loriane Estienne emphasized that family caregiving is both a risk factor for and a protective mechanism against elder abuse, and that caregivers face significant financial hardship from out-of-pocket costs and lost income, with federal benefits covering only 55% of wages for a limited time. She recommended that federal income support programs for caregivers be made more accessible, flexible, and grounded in real-life experiences, and that a broader definition of caregiving be adopted to include anyone providing significant support, noting that Quebec’s 2020 Act provides a more inclusive definition than federal programs.

Deborah Rose reported that indigenous senior women face financial abuse from family members, isolation, aggressive scams, and a lack of culturally safe housing, compounded by the legacy of residential schools and mistrust of mainstream services. She called for increased and targeted federal income support so no senior chooses between food and housing, sustained investment in indigenous-led organizations for abuse prevention and financial literacy, safe community-based reporting pathways, investment in culturally grounded indigenous seniors housing, and addressing food insecurity as part of financial vulnerability.

During the second part of the meeting, Minister Sean Fraser presented Bill C-16, which includes a new femicide offence, criminalization of coercive control in intimate partner relationships, restoration of mandatory minimum penalties with a safety valve for grossly disproportionate cases, and new offences for AI-generated intimate images. He argued the bill is part of a broader strategy including frontline support and upstream investments, and that the coercive control offence is designed to be preventative, though he acknowledged it currently excludes elder abuse by family or caregivers, stating that further policy work is needed before expanding it. The committee also discussed court delays under the Jordan decision, with the minister defending the bill’s approach of directing courts to consider alternative remedies rather than automatic stays, while some members questioned its constitutionality and whether it would reduce delays without additional resources for provinces.

AI-generated summary — may contain errors; verify against the official evidence.

Witnesses · 3

Bénédicte Schoepflin

Executive Director, Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse

Opening remarks

Thank you so much. I hope everybody can hear me. Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity to appear today. My name is Bénédicte Schoepflin, and I'm the executive director of the Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, often known as CNPEA. CNPEA is a national organization that is working to prevent the mistreatment of older adults and to advance their rights and their well-being across the country. In Canada, approximately one in 10 older adults experiences some form of mistreatment each year, and we know that this number is an underestimation. Older women are disproportionately affected, particularly when you consider the intersection of gender, age, potential disability, caregiving roles and economic insecurity, among other factors. The abuse of older women in Canada is often hidden, under-reported and insufficiently represented or addressed in policy. As our population ages, these gaps risk leaving more women without the safety, autonomy and dignity they deserve. Economic abuse, or what we often call financial abuse, is a key concern. It includes things such as the misuse of powers of attorney and undue influence, and it's often a mechanism for coercive…

Full testimony ↗

Loriane Estienne

Director General, Proche aidance Québec

Opening remarks

Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning, members of the committee. My name is Loriane Estienne. I am the Executive Director of Proche aidance Québec, a provincial network of around 150 community organizations that support more than 49,000 family caregivers across Quebec. With over 25 years of experience, our network's mission is to provide dignified support to people caring for a family member with a disability. I would like to thank the committee for inviting us to contribute to this important study. We are here today because family caregiving is at the heart of this study, not only as a risk factor that is too often overlooked, but also as an essential yet fragile protective mechanism. I'll start with a fundamental distinction. In Quebec, the 2020 Act to recognize and support caregivers provides a broad and inclusive definition. Thus, a family caregiver is any person who provides significant support—without being a paid professional—to a member of his or her immediate circle, whether due to aging, illness, disability, or social hardship. At the federal level, recognition remains primarily tied to access to benefits, which often involve cumbersome and complex procedures for…

Status of Women

Summary

Witnesses · 3

Bills mentioned