2026
Date published: 2026
According to the 2021 Census, there were 461,240 Veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) living in Canada. Of these, more than half of the Veterans (66%) were aged 55 years and older, with 33,420 Veterans being in the highest age group (85 years and older). Like all older Canadians, Veterans experience the effects of aging on physical health, mental health, relationships, and quality of life. However, for Veterans, aging is compounded by the long-term impacts of military service on their health and well-being.
What is this research about?
As more Veterans reach older age, it is important to understand their experiences and ensure supporting programs and services are equipped to meet their needs. This research examines what is currently known about the health and well-being of Canadian Veterans aged 55 years and older.
What did the researchers do?
The researchers conducted a scoping review to identify and summarize existing research related to Canadian Veterans aged 55 and older. They searched six major academic databases as well as government reports and policy documents. More than 2,200 literature sources were identified in the search - 68 of which met the screening criteria and were included in the review.
What did the researchers find?
Three main themes were identified across the literature:
- Health and well-being among Veterans of all ages
- Most existing research was focused on the health and well-being of Canadian Veterans of all ages with some studies being able to draw comparisons among different age groups.
- Overall, compared to younger Veterans in these studies, those aged 55 years and older reported:
- lower rates of PTSD, anxiety, and mood disorders;
- higher rates of certain chronic physical conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, asthma, urinary issues, and hearing problems;
- greater use of health services such as family doctor visits and hospitalizations; and
- higher rates of positive outcomes such as greater satisfaction with their lives, with their finances and with family life, as well as stronger social support, and a stronger sense of community belonging.
- Veteran interventions and programs
- Research in this theme focused on supports and programs for Veterans including sleep, chronic pain, PTSD, and telehealth health-service delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- While older Veterans were included in these studies, most didn’t report specific findings for the older age group. This may be due to a limited number of older participants in these studies, highlighting the need for targeted recruitment strategies so that older Veterans are adequately represented in future research.
- Research specifically focused on older Veterans
- Research in this theme focused solely on older Veterans covering topics such as home and community-based services, assisted living and long-term care. However, not all studies presented findings by age group, or included key military characteristics such as years of service and deployment history which limits what can be learned about this population.
- Studies that examined PTSD highlighted the need for targeted mental health support for older Veterans as well as tailored approaches to care:
- older Veterans are more likely to have PTSD than their civilian counterparts;
- older Veterans with PTSD have greater difficulties with daily functioning than those without PTSD; and
- Veterans living with both PTSD and dementia experienced more intense and complex symptoms.
- Studies evaluating care programs for older Veterans identified issues such as regional inconsistencies in access to services which was often tied to provincial eligibility and availability rather than Veteran need. The research recommended a consistent approach to identifying and tracking older Veteran clients (especially those with dementia), aligning benefit policies with community care costs, and enhancing case management and follow-up supports to ensure more consistent care.
What are the recommendations from this research?
Of the 68 articles included in this review, only 16 had a specific focus on older Veterans and even those had limitations such as the lack of research on the experiences of equity-deserving sub-groups such as women, racialized, and LGBTQIA2S+ Veterans.
To better support aging Veterans, researchers should:
- look at Veterans' experiences across their whole lives and recognize that people from different backgrounds and life circumstances may have different experiences and needs;
- ensure studies include a wide range of Veteran experiences such as those living in long term care facilities, those living with cognitive impairments (including dementia), and equity-deserving Veterans such as women, racialized and LGBTQIA2S+ Veterans;
- intentionally recruit and oversample older Veterans to make sure their experiences are included in research studies; and
- use distinct age categories when grouping and presenting findings to show differences between aging Veteran groups (for example, there are expected age-related differences between a 60-year-old Veteran and an 85-year-old Veteran).
Source
Kim Ritchie, Lisa Garland Baird, Imama Noor, Emily Sullo, and Mauda Karram. The health and well-being of older Veterans in Canada: A scoping review.
Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health; June 2026.