Welcome
It’s Time for Bold Leadership: Protect the Rights of Older Persons in Canada Now
April 10, 2025, Ageism Advocacy
Canada is aging rapidly. By 2030, 1 in 4 Canadians will be over the age of 65. Despite being the fastest-growing demographic, older persons are too often sidelined—as if they are passive recipients of care.
Political leadership and public policy continue to ignore the needs, rights, and contributions of older persons. This isn’t a future issue – it’s a NOW issue.
NPF is a proud partner to CCAA, join us today by calling on all federal parties to protect the Rights of Older Persons. For more information, visit the CCAA Election page.
Bold Action and Courageous Leadership
Canadians need bold action and courageous leadership, calling on all federal parties to commit to these four priorities in the next election.
1. Appoint a Federal Minister for Older Persons (Seniors)
Establish a Cabinet-level Minister with sustained funding and authority, with a mandate to champion the rights, inclusion, and leadership of older Canadians—across all sectors and ministries.
2. Enact a National Aging Strategy Grounded in Human Rights
Canada needs a whole-of-government National Aging Strategy to challenge ageism, promote
equity, and leverage the capacity of older persons. This strategy must reflect the full diversity of the aging population and uphold human rights across health, housing, economic participation, and community life.
3. Invest in Age-Friendly Policies Across All Sectors
Design systems—across healthcare, housing, employment, and digital access—that are inclusive by design and informed by the voices and lived experiences of older Canadians. Let’s move beyond outdated notions of “support.” Just as we invest in schools or roads for all, we must invest in environments that recognize and enable the contributions and autonomy of older persons.
4. Commit to Immediate and Sustained Action
Inaction will deepen inequities, strain health systems, lead to higher costs, economic loss, and limit Canada’s potential. Older persons are essential to Canada’s present and future. We must act now to build an inclusive, equitable, and age-just Canada.
For more information and to get involved, visit www.ccaageism.ca.
Greetings NPF Affiliate Leaders and Members,
Re: NPF Launches our New Horizons for Seniors Project (NHSP) towards combating ageism
"Reflections on the Horizon: Stories of Aging, Solidarity, and Collective Transformation."
An invitation to participate via our project website, www.NPFstories.com
We would appreciate your interest and support to highlight our newly launched project that is directed towards increasing awareness and political action on a new global phenomenon. The global aging population now exceeds that of persons younger than 14. Today people aged 65+ make up 18.5% of Canada’s population and will reach 25% of the population by 204. (Stats Can)
As you may already know, the NPF has joined forces with several other key NGOs across Canada to form the Canadian Coalition Against Ageism to alert the urgency for a United Nations Convention on the Rights of Older Persons. https://social.un.org/ageing-working-group/
The NHSP grant is providing us with the time and commitment to lay a foundation within our own organization to contribute to this larger goal at the UN. As a member of the United Nations Open-Ended Working Group on Ageism, our mission is to contribute real-life stories, whether good or unfavorable ones that reveal experiences in growing older in Canada.
How will sharing stories help?
- Validating real lived experiences/ thoughts on ageism,
- Identifying the role of intergenerational understanding and connections,
- Revealing attitudes and behaviors that need to be evaluated and understood as barriers / or that contribute to positive change,
- Raising awareness about the challenges faced by older adults.
Our Goal: Gather insight into the growing aging population’s
lived experiences and expectations and apply this learning to the larger initiative at the United Nations. Personal storytelling/collections are a very powerful tool!
Impact: The survey data and stories will be used as qualified outreach to the broader program and submission to the Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) at the United Nations (UN) on ageism.
We are extending an invitation to you and your members to participate via our project website, www.NPFstories.com. Here you can help by participating in a confidential survey and or sharing a short story of a lived experience. The story collections will help us gather valuable insights and reflections on aging, intergenerational solidarity, and the means necessary to work toward creating a more inclusive community and society as a whole.
Lastly, we strongly encourage you to share this invite with your friends and networks to ensure diverse perspectives are represented. Further, by participating and sharing this outreach, together we can strengthen the discourse for political will and actions for a more inclusive and understanding society. One thing IS for sure, everyone ages.
We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to the community-based stream of the Government of Canada’s New Horizons for Seniors Program (NHSP) for providing funding, in part, to support "Reflections on the Horizon: Stories of Aging, Solidarity, and Collective Transformation." The NHSP's commitment to empowering seniors in their communities aligns perfectly with the objectives of our workshops. With this funding, we can create a more inclusive society where intergenerational connections flourish and age-related biases are challenged.
