e-5196 (Public safety)

Petition to the Government of Canada

• According to the Alzheimer Society, nearly 1 million people in Canada will be living with dementia by 2030 and this will increase to more than 1.7 million by 2050;
• According to Public Safety Canada, 60% of people living with dementia will go missing at some point. If a person with Alzheimer’s disease is not found within 12 hours of being lost, there is a 50% chance that they will be found injured or dead from hypothermia, dehydration, or drowning. This makes any search an emergency;
• Silver Alert is a system that will provide notification when a vulnerable adult with dementia or other cognitive impairment goes missing so they can be brought home safely;
• According to researchers from the University of Waterloo, Faculty of Health, older adults who get lost and go missing are usually within four to 12 kilometres of their last known location. Silver Alerts to mobile devices could be geographically targeted to a local area; and
• Amber Alerts exist for vulnerable children. Many adults living with dementia are similarly vulnerable, but they are not yet protected by a similar system;