Age-Friendly Communities Initiative

The Government of Canada is proud to be a key partner in the Age-Friendly Communities Initiative. The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) leads this initiative with other federal, provincial, territorial and non-government partners.

The Age-Friendly Communities project seeks to engage older Canadians and their communities in making their communities better, healthier and safer places for seniors to live and thrive. In an age-friendly community, policies, services and structures related to the physical and social environment are designed to support and enable older people to "age actively" – that is, to live in security, enjoy good health and continue to participate fully in society. Public and commercial settings and services are made accessible to accommodate varying levels of ability. For example, public and private transportation is accessible, streets and buildings are hazard-free, and there are opportunities for seniors to participate in civic, cultural, educational and voluntary activities.

So far, four jurisdictions (British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Quebec) are championing initiatives in Canada and many other jurisdictions are interested and in various stages of development. Around the world, many cities and communities, large and small, are also involved. 

History of Age-Friendly Initiatives

The age-friendly model is based on two tools – one developed by the World Health Organization with support from PHAC, and the other developed for rural/remote communities by Canada’s Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers Responsible for Seniors.

• WHO Global Age-Friendly Cities Project

The World Health Organization (WHO) developed the Age-Friendly Cities (AFC) project to engage cities worldwide in making their communities more age-friendly by identifying key elements needed to ensure that cities support healthy aging.  Among the 33 cities involved in this project were four Canadian cities: Saanich, British Columbia; Portage La Prairie, Manitoba; Sherbrooke, Quebec; and Halifax, Nova Scotia.

• Federal, Provincial, Territorial Age-Friendly Rural and Remote Communities Initiative

In 2006, the Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers Responsible for Seniors endorsed the Age-Friendly Rural and Remote Communities Initiative which would use the methodology of the WHO Global Age-Friendly Cities Project. This was a Canadian-based collaborative project focussing on communities with populations under 5,000. In total, 10 communities across 8 provinces participated in the project.

Both projects gathered information from seniors, senior-care providers and other partners to identify the major physical, social and health barriers that exist in cities and in rural and remote communities.  To share what they learned, two guides were developed. The themes of the guides include: community support and health services, outdoor spaces and buildings, transportation, housing, respect and social inclusion, social participation, communication and information, civic participation and employment.

For a copy of the WHO Global Age-Friendly Cities guide, visit the WHO website:
Global Age-friendly Cities: A Guide

For a copy of the Federal, Provincial, Territorial Age-Friendly Rural and Remote Initiative: A Guide, visit:
www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/seniors-aines/pubs/age_friendly_rural/index_e.htm

Additional PHAC work on seniors’ health issues

Emergency Preparedness
      In emergencies, seniors are a vulnerable segment of the population.  PHAC’s work in emergency preparedness has been focussed on working with partners to develop tools and guidelines and to ensure that information on seniors’ needs and contributions is widely distributed and integrated into emergency management. 

Falls
      PHAC focuses on seniors’ falls prevention and has developed several publications aimed at reducing falls such as the award winning Safe Living Guide: A guide to home safety for seniors and the PHAC Report on Seniors Falls in Canada . PHAC also provided support to the WHO in the development of the recently released WHO Global Report on Falls Prevention in Older Age .

Mental Health
      PHAC has been working closely with key partners to promote mental health, and to address and prevent mental health problems among seniors. In recent years, PHAC has supported the development of new knowledge and tools and has strengthened the network of expertise across Canada.

Elder Abuse
      As a partner in the Government of Canada’s effort to address elder abuse, PHAC will be assessing the most promising interventions in a public health system as well as developing and distributing information and resources to public health practitioners.