World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

Submitted by nsscadmin on Wed, 06/15/2022 - 09:00

First observed by the United Nations in 2012, World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) recognizes that nearly every country across the globe will see a substantial growth in the number of older persons in the next decade. With the population of older persons increasing, it unfortunately also leads to an increase in the amount of elder abuse.

Nova Scotia’s population is getting older at an alarming rate. In the latest census conducted in 2021, Nova Scotia was found to have one of the oldest populations in Canada. In Nova Scotia the number of people aged 65 and over (215,325 or 22.2%) has eclipsed the population of those in the province aged 14 and under (136,710 or 14.1%).

Over the last two years the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the number of seniors in Nova Scotia and around the world that are vulnerable to financial elder abuse. The pandemic has caused many seniors to become isolated as quarantine measures have forced them to stay home, caused the closure of shops and financial centres, and made it difficult for seniors to accept visitors.

Are you or someone you care about a victim of financial abuse? Are you an older person that may be vulnerable to financial abuse? If any of the following applies to you or to an older person you care about, you or the older person may be vulnerable to financial abuse, or already may be a victim of financial abuse:

I find my bills confusing, making them difficult to pay.
I don’t feel confident making big financial decisions alone.
I don’t understand financial decisions that someone else is making for me.
I give loans or gifts to family or friends I can’t afford.
Members of my family, or others around me, are pressuring me to give them money.
Someone is accessing my accounts without my full knowledge.
Money appears to be missing from my accounts.

Learn more about financial elder abuse by reading our blog posts:

For more information on financial elder abuse, watch our 'What does financial elder abuse look like? video series,' our special three-part financial elder abuse video series, and visit our Investing Information for Seniors webpage.

Failure to file annual financial statements.
Failure to file interim financial statements.
Failure to file an annual or interim management’s discussion and analysis (MD&A) or an annual or interim management report of fund performance (MRFP).
Failure to file an Annual Information Form (AIF).
Failure to file a certification of annual or interim filings required by Multilateral Instrument 52-109 Certification of Disclosure in Issuers’ Annual and Interim Filings (MI 52-109).
Failure to file required proxy materials or a required information circular.
Failure to file an issuer profile supplement on the System for Electronic Disclosure by Insiders (SEDI).
Failure to file a material change report.
Failure to provide a written update after filing a confidential report of a material change.
Failure to file a business acquisition report.
Failure to file annual oil and gas disclosure prescribed by National Instrument 51-101 Standards of Disclosure of Oil and Gas Activities (NI 51-101) or technical reports for a mineral project required under NI 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101).
Failure to file a mandatory news release.
Failure to file corporate governance disclosure as required by national Instrument 58-101 Disclosure of Corporate Governance Practices (NI 58-101).
Failure to file audit committee disclosure as required by Multilateral Instrument 52-110 Audit Committees (MI 52-110) or BC Instrument 52-509 Audit Committees.
Failure to include disclosure in an issuer’s MD&A relating to disclosure controls and procedures and their direct effectiveness that is referred to in a certificate filed under MI 52-109.
Financial statements of the reporting issuer, or the auditors’ report accompanying the financial statements, do not comply with the requirements of NI 51-102 Continuous Disclosure Obligations (NI 51-102), National Instrument 81-106 Investment Fund Continuous Disclosure (NI 81-106) or National Instrument 52-107 Acceptable Accounting Principles, Auditing Standards and Reporting Currency (NI 52-107).
The reporting issuer has acknowledged that its financial statements, or the auditors’ report accompanying the financial statements, may no longer be relied upon.
The reporting issuer’s AIF, MD&A, MRFP, information circular, or business acquisition reports do not contain information for each of the content items required by NI 51-102 or NI 81-106.
The reporting issuer’s technical disclosure or other reports do not comply with the disclosure requirements of NI 43-101 or 51-101.
Failure to pay a fee required by the Act or the regulations.
Failure to comply with any other requirement related to continuous disclosure.