Canadian Lawyer

38 www.canadianlawyermag.com PEOPLE FIRM INSIGHT Serving the needs of Canadian seniors Canada is becoming an older country, now home to around 6.6 million over the age of 65 and more than 10,000 centenari- ans. Over the last century, as Canadians have become healthier and have had fewer chil- dren, the 65-plus demographic has grown disproportionately among other age groups. In the next two decades, baby boomers will expand this demographic by between 21 and 29 per cent, according to Statistics Canada. And this cohort has quite a lot of living to do: Statistics Canada puts a 65-year-old's remaining life expectancy at between 19 and 22 years. As medical advancements allow people to be older and enjoy life for longer, seniors' living, wellness and health care are becoming increasingly more relevant industries. "Our demographics — not just in Canada but throughout the world — are such that the aging population is rapidly outpacing any other demographic population in the world," says Mi- chelle Roth, founder and chairwoman of Good- mans LLP's health care and aging division. "That gives rise to a number of consider- ations and concerns when you think about where medical care and the other resources required to support this evolution in demo- graphics will come from." Roth's division deploys a cross-section of expertise — from tax and litigation, to real estate, banking & finance, M&A, health- care regulation and more. She is also presi- dent and CEO of SenbridGe — an aging and As the 65-and-older demographic expands, Michelle Roth explains how health care and housing services are evolving health-care platform created by Goodmans to provide education, networking, consulting, advisory and other industry responsive ser- vices to stakeholders in the sector. SenbridGe and Goodmans have been producing annual spring and fall conferences and related events in Toronto and Vancouver for more than a de- cade, and they will soon add more events in Eastern Canada. Recently, governments have responded with new initiatives designed to address the growing need for seniors' housing and care. In 2018, the B.C. government pledged $240 million over three years and the Ontario government's 2019 budget included funding for 15,000 new long-term care beds and an upgrading of another 15,000 over five years. There is also a "much higher degree" of pri- vate investment, including from U.S. REITs, Canadian pension funds and infrastructure organizations, says Roth. In such a highly reg- ulated industry, with new funding come new legal needs. "We have new funding programs that are supporting the development of new or en- hanced communities," she says. ". . . That in turn translates into a need, legally, for a multi-faceted, strategic team, because the structures that are required to actually capi- talize on those programs are very complicated when it comes to tax, when it comes to financ- ing, never mind the health-care-regulated gauntlet and the commercial components. "People now are finding, even though FAST FACTS 1997 - Roth got started in the sector in what she calls "the birth of Canadian REITs," which included transactions involving retirement and long-term-care-home facilities, hospitals and related technologies. 1998 – 1999 - Roth then spent a year working in-house with the Canadian seniors accommodation, care and services company now known as Revera Inc. Over the years, Roth established herself as a go-to in the sector and found herself being asked to speak at real estate conferences about seniors' living and being tasked with working on the "very robust pipeline" of health-care transactions, which took place over the last 20 to 25 years, she says. 2011 – Goodmans established its own suite of health and aging events, which become branded as Senbridge in 2016. 2016 - SenbridGeSEES debuts 2017 – WiTH iT (Wider Inclusivity in Transformative Health, Innovation, and Technology) created 2017 – SenbridGeNEXT launched 2017 – SenbridGe West expands to Victoria, B.C. 2021 – Planned launch of SenbridGe East

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