Ontario Age-Friendly Communities (AFC) Outreach Program

An age-friendly community (AFC) is a community where policies, services and physical spaces are designed to enable people of all ages to live in a secure and accessible physical and social environment. AFCs contribute to good health and allow people to continue to participate fully in society throughout their lifetime.

Funded by the Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility, the Ontario Age-Friendly Communities (AFC) Outreach Program represents a partnership between Queen’s University, the Centre for Studies in Aging and Health and the University of Waterloo. Since 2015, this program has supported communities across the province, as they develop plans, programs and environments that enable seniors to live healthy, active and meaningful lives.

To-date this support has included:

• Establishing Knowledge Brokers to link communities to stakeholders, research and resources, and support the uptake of emerging best-practices in planning, implementation and evaluation of AFCs
• Creation of a provincial AFC website with a resource repository, profiles of Ontario Age-Friendly Community Initiatives, monthly newsletter, webinar series, and interactive maps linking to local activities
• Targeted presentations and publications at regional, provincial and national venues
• Creation & support of four Regional Networks in Ontario to promote collaboration between communities
• Creation of a second edition of Finding the Right Fit, Ontario’s AFC planning framework, that now includes expanded information on implementing and evaluating Age-Friendly Communities

The Ontario AFC Outreach Program has also created a robust AFC evaluation strategy inclusive of an annual online survey of all Ontario’s AFCs.

Click here to join the AFC Knowledge Exchange Network and stay connected to upcoming opportunities and developments related to age-friendly communities in Ontario.