As residents of Quebec's Lower North Shore grow older, towns scramble to build seniors' residences

When Randy Jones picked up the phone and wrote down the first name on the waiting list for his town's new retirement home, helooked around for someone tohigh-five.

"I can't tell you the feeling that went through me," said Jones,mayor ofGros-Mcatina, one of the coastaltowns scattered along Quebec's Lower North Shore.

MaisonMcatinahas been 28 years in the making. Itshould be ready to welcome nine residents by February, offering the town's elderly population access to a long-term care facility for the first time.

"You've got the fresh air coming in from the oceanthat every person would give their right arm to have. It's a beautiful spot," said Jones.

BeforeMaisonMcatina, the 450 residents ofGros-Mcatinahadto move to neighbouring towns along the coast if they could no longer live on their own.

"It's hard to tell someone who's lived here for 90, 80, 70 years all their life that they have to move and live somewhere else," Jones said.

Remoteness

Johnny Organ, 86, left Gros-Mcatina last November to join his wife inHarrington Harbour.

The towns are separated bya six-hour trip on theBella Desgagnsmixed cargo ship.

"I worked there all my life," Organ said of his 35 years running the local fish plant in LaTabatire, one of the three communities that make up Gros-Mcatina.

The couple is now living at theDonald-G.-HoddPavilion, inside Harrington Harbour's CLSC. Theywon't be returningto theirhometown despite the new retirement home.

"I think I'll stay here because my daughter is here," Organ said.

Roaming alongthe wooden boardwalks of his adopted town in his new electric scooter, Organ saidhe is happy to have gotten closer to his family.

But for many people on the coast, moving often means leaving loved onesbehind.

Jones said the cost of travelling to visit family is "astronomical,"given the ferry only runs once a week in either direction.

"This is why we've been at this for 28 years:so that seniorsin this municipality can stay home."

Ageing population

Neighbouring communities want to followGros-Mcatina'sexample.

Onlythree towns in the regionhave long-term care units. The combined spaces in Blanc-Sablon, Harrington Harbour and Saint-Augustin add up to 49 rooms, in addition to the ninethat will be availableatMaison Mcatina.

With roughly 5,000people living in the region, and a population that is aging, providing adequate resources for the elderly is a concern for municipalities, saidRoderickFequet,mayor ofBonne-Esprance.

"Many seniors are currently living in their homes, but we anticipate in the next ten years to have significant demand for residences that can provide supervised care," said Fequet.

Home care services, like meal deliveriesandhousekeeping, are offered by local organizations such asthe Coasters Association.

ButFequetsaid the options are limited once people lose their autonomy.He hopes to find alternatives toadding rooms inside existing hospitals or CLSCs.

"It's quite an expensive way of caring for seniors. In my honest opinion, it's not in the best interest of seniors, for their quality of life, to be in an institutional setting," he said.

Fequet said some residentsput their own safety at risk because they don't want to be confronted with the prospect of leaving their town for medical treatment or other health services, like long-term care.

He said this problem can be amplified byfinancial constraints and "theprospect of leaving a rural small village where they feel comfortable."

Meanwhile, Jones hopes the idea behind Maison Mcatina will be replicated in otherLower North Shore communities.

It is being built with pre-fabricated units that will be shipped on a barge in the fall, bringing the total cost of the project to $2.7 million.

He estimates the price tag would have been double if the work had been done on-site, from scratch, with raw materials.

"It's anew way of doing things," said Jones.