This movement continues to amaze me. I co-chair the Pan-Canadian Reference Group for Age-Friendly Communities with the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Pan-Canadian Age-Friendly Communities create liveable communities for all and recently I heard that over 500 communities across Canada are working on plans and implementation of wonderful projects. All areas of Canada are different and so the projects will be different.

These communities are seeing great opportunities as they value and appreciate seniors for their contributions to community life, as well as adapting to help them stay connected.

When Saanich was selected by the Province of BC to represent them in the World Health Organization (WHO) Age-Friendly initiative we learned a lot. Being the Community Leader working with the UVIC Centre of Aging in that process, I heard from our residents that some simple improvements in Saanich, in our built environment and our facilities as well as in the business community, could help them stay active in their neighborhoods.

By creating environments that support healthy aging, seniors, elected officials, business leaders, service providers and community residents improve peoples’ lives and the quality of community life. This is in keeping with the WHO goal of active aging: “optimizing opportunities for health, participation and security in order to enhance quality of life as people age.”

This initiative crosses all borders. Representatives from across Canada have come together with the Public Health Agency of Canada in establishing a Reference Group. We are coordinating opportunities and sharing experiences from provinces and communities across Canada. We are moving forward to ensure that our citizens can stay healthy and active where they live. Each area has different opportunities. Saanich’s new curb cut standards, as seen along Shelbourne, may not be appropriate in “snow” environments like Edmonton, where ice removal at these corners are probably more problematic.

Edmonton’s new Seniors Declaration speaks to how seniors are valued and recognized for their contributions and outlines how the City will work towards making Edmonton more “age-friendly”.

The Age Friendly Manitoba Charter was adopted to bring governments, organizations and communities together. Age-Friendly communities adapt, create and put in place policies, services, settings and structures that support and enable people to age actively.

In Nova Scotia their Age-Friendly Grant Program helps communities embrace, support and embody age friendliness. The Nova Scotia Department of Seniors is leading the implementation of the province’s Strategy for Positive Aging.

In Quebec, they have seen that by offering services that are accessible and in close proximity to where seniors live can produce a greater increase in participation of seniors in leisure activities.

Too often in local government we see programs come and go. It is obvious with the demographics changing around the world, we all need to be mindful how we recognize, appreciate and adapt for our aging population and then, we can make our communities liveable, for all.