In The News
Why Home Health Care Franchises Are In Great Demand North of Border, Too
May 31, 2013
Seniors may make up 25% of Canadian population by 2036, highlighting need for home health care franchises
Canada's elderly population is projected to reach 10 million by 2036. (Ayelie, Wikimedia Commons)
The Baby Boomer generation has reached retirement age, and the franchise industry throughout North America is rising to meet the challenge of a flood of seniors who live longer than ever and want to stay in their homes. Home health care franchises are a growing phenomenon in the United States — but they’re becoming incredibly popular and important north of the border as well.
In Canada, a nation with nearly 5 million seniors — a number expected to surpass 10 million within a generation — entrepreneurs are joining or founding franchise systems to care for the elderly and growing with surging demand. Such franchisors have grown extensively in recent years and expect to face even greater demand for their services over the next two decades.
Senior care franchises are a terrific choice for entrepreneurs who truly care for the elderly and want to seize a marvelous business opportunity, too. We’re directing more and more people in that direction, and we’re seeing more interest from professionals whose own parents have surpassed retirement age. “Personal experience can be a powerful driver for someone who wants to buy a senior care franchise,” says Gary Prenevost in our FranNet of Southern Ontario office near Toronto.
And there’s no ignoring the numbers: Canadian seniors’ share of the overall population has grown steadily in the last 40 years, from 8 percent in 1971 to 14 percent in 2010. But that year, the first of the Baby Boomers hit 65, touching off what demographers predict will be a sharp rise in the number and percentage of seniors until the last of the Boomers reach retirement age in 2031.
Gary Prenevost
By then, Statistics Canada predicts, the Canadian senior population could be as high as 11 million, accounting for as much as a quarter of the total population. The number of people 80 and older is expected to more than double to 3.3 million, and the population aged 100 or older could triple to more than 20,000, the agency projects.
Canadians, like most people in the developed world, are living longer; the average life expectancy for a Canadian newborn this year is 81 years, compared to 71 in 1960. Those factors, plus looming government deficits, have given rise to concerns that Canada’s taxpayer-funded universal health care system — the source of most of a record $200.5 billion in health care spending last year — won’t be able to sustain its service levels.
So there’s a distinct possibility of European-style austerity measures coming — and a reduction in public services that will send people running to private health care providers they can trust. When you look at the rising costs of nursing homes and the overwhelming preference of seniors to stay in their homes if they’re injured or ill, it’s apparent that senior home care franchises are poised to do very well for years to come, on either side of the national border.
Interested? Take a look at our directory for the nearest FranNet location.
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