Our Work
We’re building better lives for the global aging population, one community at a time
As the global population ages, there is an urgent need to remove barriers that prevent older persons from leading healthy and dignified lives.
Isolation, poverty, ageism, financial insecurity, and abuse are some of the most pressing social issues that impede the respect, dignity, and agency older people deserve. HelpAge Canada understands how important collaboration is in fulfilling our mission of supporting community-based initiatives, improving the lives of older persons and their communities, and empowering older people to live healthy, active, and dignified lives.
HelpAge Canada undertakes its mission by:
Providing resources to community-based seniors’ services (CBSS) organizations
Building knowledge to make a bigger and better impact
Convening partners across many sectors to work together towards our shared goals
Providing Organizations with the Support they Need to Succeed
We offer a wide range of grants, program delivery models, and partnerships to community-based seniors’ services (CBSS) organizations, so that they can continue to support older people in the places they live.
Community-based seniors’ services (CBSS) organizations are chronically underfunded, yet they deliver vital social and health services that respond to an aging community’s specific needs. From tailored digital literacy programs that foster communications and break isolation, to adapted food banks that are inclusive of those with mobility challenges, the programs and services these organizations provide at a local level are essential.
Age Better makes aging with dignity equitable. It is a granting program that funds CBSS organizations in areas such as innovative programming, well-being, and mental health.
Let’s Connect provides funding, devices, and customizable program models to community-based seniors’ services organizations, so they can offer effective ways to increase the digital literacy of older Canadians.
Canada HomeShare is an innovative intergenerational housing option that supports aging in place while providing safe and affordable accommodations.
Can Move unites community stakeholders with government leaders, experts in transportation, academics studying aging, and concerned older citizens to take action on creating better transportation options for older adults.
Sponsor A Grandparent is a monthly sponsorship program that supports older people in Dominica, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Kenya, and Sri Lanka through our network of community care partners. Together, we ensure older people in vulnerable situations are housed, fed, supported, and safe every day.
Global Response is a humanitarian program that undertakes projects in areas around the world experiencing crises or human rights failures, so that more older adults in these afflicted regions can age safely with dignity.
Building Relationships
to Inform Our Impact
At HelpAge Canada, we recognize that no two communities are the same. From the big city of Toronto to remote towns in Nunavut, all the way to rural villages in Kenya, older people and their communities have different needs and priorities depending on where they live.
We’re going beyond our programs by bringing together changemakers, starting conversations, and taking action to create an age-inclusive world.
Our programs aren’t the only way we’re helping older people and their communities. We bring together the right information, partners, and ideas to not only support CBSS organizations and the older people they serve, but to transform the way people think about age in policy, society, and more.
Rallying the nationwide voices of local organizations responding to the needs of older people
We know that CBSS organizations have a direct impact on up to 80% of the social determinants of health for older people, but their work is not recognized in Canadian social policy. We have learned that organizations can have a much larger impact through a collective approach than what can be attained alone.
Learn more about the 2024 CBSS Sector Summit and how you can be part of the movement.
For the first time ever, CBSS organizations from across Canada will have the opportunity to come together as a nationwide sector to share best practices, establish goals, and develop a united vision for the future of aging in Canada.
Transforming the aging landscape worldwide
As a founding member of the HelpAge International Global Network, we remain focused on advancing and safeguarding the rights of older people, so that older people can live safe, healthy, and dignified lives, regardless of where they live in the world.
HelpAge Canada convenes Canadian partners, such as governmental agencies and not-for-profit organizations, to support HelpAge International with humanitarian projects worldwide, including in Ukraine, Ethiopia, and Pakistan, and with emergency appeals such as the 2023 Turkiye-Syria Earthquakes.
Nearly 171 members in 90 countries
are part of the HelpAge Global Network, an international movement for change that HelpAge Canada co-founded
Representing the voice of Canadians where decisions are made and where important conversations take place.
HelpAge Canada gets involved in conferences, summits, and more, bringing what we’ve heard from older Canadians to the world stage.
In 2023, HelpAge Canada participated in the United Nation’s 13th Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) on Ageing. We’ve called on the United Nations to codify the rights of older people in a declaration, and we will continue to speak up for the rights of older people until we have a legally-binding convention.
Starting conversations on our podcast, On Aging: Canadian Conversations,
with CORE Canada.
On Aging invites experts in fields such as gerontology, community leadership, healthcare, and more to dive into the issues facing older adults and provide insights into how the aging landscape can be changed for the better.
Creating communities of practice through our social media and newsletters.
We’re helping CBSS organizations stay up-to-date on the latest funding opportunities, policy developments, news, and more, and we provide a safe space where CBSS organizations can discuss the topics that matter most to them.
You can share your stories by tagging us on social media. Follow us to explore the work CBSS organizations are doing and to learn more about our partnerships.
Support Us
We appreciate the support of our generous donors in helping us create a world in which all older persons lead secure, healthy, active and dignified lived.