The founder and executive director of Senior Women Living Together, a non-profit organization, wants to help women over the age of 55 to find affordable shared-living arrangements.
Pat Dunn is reaching out to inform single, divorced and widowed women in Sudbury and throughout Ontario about the benefits of communal living, an affordable alternative to living alone or other senior housing options, and her organization's free services.
"When we have homemates, rental costs are lowered significantly, and women are no longer socially isolated," she said.
Dunn, 75, lives with two other women in a rented house. They share the rent, groceries and other expenses. With the savings, she has been able to buy a car and open a savings account.
The retired public health nurse was living on a boat sailing in the Caribbean with her husband when he died suddenly in 2014. She moved back to Canada and lived in a trailer, but was basically homeless.
"About four years after my husband died, I realized I was not able to financially take care of myself into my aging years with the savings I had. I had to find a better way."
She started a Facebook page for women in similar situations and started to look for homemates.
"In the summer of 2019 there was a zero-vacancy rate in Peterborough. All the housing we saw was dismal or unsafe. I had a relationship with a real estate investor and I asked her to buy a house and act as our landlady."
Senior Women Living Together grew from that Facebook page with the support of volunteers and some government grants and private sector sponsors.
The organization works to build relationships with private landlords and real estate investors as well as other senior non-profit and advocacy groups. There has also been interest from women who own their homes seeking homemates to share expenses.
"Senior women make the best tenants. We know how to take care of a home and we are in bed by 9 o’clock at night," Dunn said.
Home-sharing is sometimes called the “Golden Girl” model, named for the popular 1980s TV comedy about a group of older women living together.
There are financial and societal reasons why this living arrangement makes sense.
On average women live longer than men. Statistic Canada reports 31.5 per cent of senior women live alone, twice the number of men in the same age group.
These women are also more likely to live in poverty. According to a study by Women’s Age Lab (2024), many women's pensions are not sufficient to cover expenses with the rising cost of living.
Older women face a 21.8-per-cent pension gap compared to men in Canada. They earned less during their working years, often took leaves from the workforce to look after children or may have never worked.
Canada’s National Housing Strategy has identified seniors as a key population experiencing housing vulnerability in Canada.
Seniors who have lived in a rent-controlled apartment for many years are often victims of "renovictions" by landlords who want higher-paying tenants, said Dunn.
Even with rent control, apartment rents in Ontaro have increased 7.5 per cent in three years.
"When I first started this, I didn't realize how dreadful the situation was across the province and Canada" said Dunn.
"There is nothing out there to rent that is deeply affordable because many of our members do not have work pensions. They are stretching it a bit to pay $800 or $900 a month."
The companionship offered is almost as important at the financial benefits, said Dunn.
"By the end of COVID, seniors who preferred to live alone began to realize they are not as safe as they thought they were and it was distressing not to be able to meet with friends."
The shared-living option allows women to "age in place," and avoid senior or nursing homes as long as possible because homemates can provide some assistance when needed, added Dunn.
Subscribers to the Senior Women Living Together website (SWLT.ca) have access to information about shared living and they will receive the "Silver Linings" newsletter.
They can also create a profile to help them find homemates. There is a chat room to connect with other women interested in communal living.
"It is kind of like a dating service," said Dunn. "You start connecting and creating lasting relationships and commitments to others to live with you and then find a place to live."
Senior Women Living Together subscribers have access to information that can help them establish "house rules" that can prevent problems associated with shared accommodations.
Dunn recommends homemates create a written agreement that states house rules regarding how rent and utilities bills are paid, parking spots, how to handle grocery shopping, meals and using the kitchen, cleaning and laundry, and guests.
Vicki Gilhula is a freelance writer. Prime is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
