The aging population. Seniors. Old folks. The elderly. Mom and dad, gramps and nana.

The big tsunami of aging residents is here. And governments across the country are woefully unprepared.

Municipalities claim, properly, that it is primarily a provincial problem. But the reality once again, as it is so frequently for our mayors and councillors, is that the problems and consequences will end up on our city streets.

They always do. The feds can hand off to the provinces, and the provinces can shuffle stuff to local governments, but municipalities end up with the day-to-day reality and the problems they bring.

We've seen it too often. Social housing a few decades ago, when the federal government stopped funding and the provinces then gave this lovely 'gift' to their municipalities of public housing. While it differs from province to province, the results are fairly common—municipalities are paying more for social housing, and it is getting worse. It is only the last couple of years that some funding has been reversed.

Homelessness. Every municipality in Canada has big issues with homelessness, and some of that can be traced back to the provinces that stopped providing 'mental health facilities,' and the never-ending circle of police to hospital to street to police began. Police chiefs will tell you how much of their budget now goes to this problem.

These types of huge social problems always end up with a city, because local government is the government of last resort. We have no place to download, except on innocent local ratepayers who wonder why their property taxes have gone up so much.

The problem of looking after our seniors will only get worse. For example, in Ontario, by 2040, there will be 4.2 million people 65+. The province does not have the plans, policies or facilities to handle that cohort.

There is a dearth of PSWs in Canada, and that is directly tied to the federal immigration policies that have ping-ponged back and forth. Nursing homes and hospitals are desperate for staff.

The costs of supporting the aging population is growing. A good quality senor's residence with some regular assistance is now costing $10-15,000 a month for a private room. That helps to explain why so many seniors choose to stay in their home, which means housing doesn't get put on the market so younger people can't find nice homes to buy.

This demographic surge is not a surprise. It has been known for decades how the aging population would grow and accelerate. But governments have been slow to react or they ignored the crisis.

The tsunami rumbles closer.