Reimagining Senior Housing: Developing the Community-Integrated Shared Equity Model for Ontario Through Comparative Policy Analysis

Abstract

Canada is facing an imminent housing crisis, as one in four Canadians will reach 65 by the mid-2030s, and 75% of Ontario's seniors reside in car-dependent suburban areas. Current housing systems trap home equity, while fragmented governance and restrictive regulations prevent the integration of housing with care services. This thesis examines how integrated financing and policy mechanisms can enable older adults' transition from suburban homes to age-friendly housing while maintaining community connections and ensuring long-term affordability. This thesis applies comparative documentary policy analysis on 120 sources across four OECD countries: Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, and Sweden. Through the policy triangle framework, the analysis examines policy context, content, processes, and actors shaping housing transformation from 1987 to 2024. Maximum variation sampling enabled identification of convergent principles while maintaining sensitivity to contextual factors, with analysis progressing through structured country-specific examination, cross-national patterns, and transferability to Ontario. Cross-national findings demonstrate hospitalization reductions of 15-28%, fall prevention improvements of 24-31%, and institutional care delays of 2.3-3.1 years alongside substantial social capital formation. Synthesizing these findings within Ontario's regulatory context, the thesis proposes the Community-Integrated Shared Equity (CISE) model, a theoretically grounded framework integrating social capital theory, social support theory and behavioural economics principles. The CISE model operates through three interdependent pillars addressing financial barriers, community preservation, and operational coordination while accounting for Canadian specificities. Policy recommendations span federal, provincial, and municipal jurisdictions, proposing National Housing Strategy reallocation, Planning Act amendments, and municipal zoning reforms to enable implementation pathways from pilot demonstrations to systemic transformation.