Welcome! This is your resource for learning and accessing tools about Age-friendly Communities in British Columbia.

In an age-friendly community, policies, services, settings and structures support and enable older people to age actively by:

• Recognizing the wide range of capacities and resources among older persons.
• Anticipating and responding flexibly to aging-related needs and preferences.
• Respecting decisions and lifestyle choices.
• Protecting those who are most vulnerable.
• Promoting inclusion and contribution in all areas of community life.

The Union of BC Municipalities has partnered with the Ministry of Community Services and the Ministry of Health to develop this website as a resource to local governments and communities for adapting communities to become age-friendly. The website promotes the sharing of Age-friendly Communities’ success stories, new age-friendly resources and training event opportunities for communities and local governments, including elected officials.

Age-friendly Communities builds on the findings from two age-friendly initiatives, one by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the other by the Ministers Responsible for Seniors across Canada. For the WHO project, 33 partner cities around the world, including the District of Saanich in BC, consulted with older people, community leaders and caregivers to identify physical, social and environmental barriers to active aging and to make suggestions for improvement.

The Canadian project engaged 10 remote and rural communities across the country - including the Villages of Alert Bay and Lumby in BC - in identifying features that make their communities more age-friendly.

Each of these two projects produced eight key features of an age-friendly community:

1. Outdoor spaces and public buildings that are pleasant, clean, secure and physically accessible.
2. Public transportation that is accessible and affordable.
3. Housing that is affordable, appropriately located, well built, well designed and secure.
4. Opportunities for social participation in leisure, social, cultural and spiritual activities with people of all ages and cultures.
5. Older people are treated with respect and are included in civic life.
6. Opportunities for employment and volunteerism that cater to older persons’ interests and abilities.
7. Age-friendly communication and information available.
8. Community support and health tailored to older persons’ needs.

These key features are explained in the WHO document Global Age-friendly Cities: A Guide and the Canadian Age-friendly Remote and Rural Communities: A Guide. The Guides also include practical, detailed checklists for each of the eight key features. The community guides are available in the Document Library.

Age-friendly Communities Implementation in BC

The Ministry of Health has recruited an Age-friendly Communities Implementation Team to directly assist and enable local governments to identify barriers and implement actions to create age-friendly communities. The goal is to make BC the most age-friendly jurisdiction in Canada by 2010.

The Team will provide expert planning advice and support to local governments (including municipalities, regional districts and Aboriginal communities) to develop and implement age-friendly actions using the Age-friendly Community Guides.

For the latest information on Age-friendly Communities, read the current Age-friendly Communities Newsletter.