The Canadian Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers Responsible for Seniors Forum launched a national consultation on ageism in 2022. Age Knowble contributed to this consultation and hosted three sessions with older person participants referred by MOISAC, South Vancouver Neighbourhood House, and South Vancouver Seniors Network. In addition to English, Age Knowble held Cantonese and Mandarin-speaking sessions. All older person participants are immigrants to Canada, whether long-time Canadian citizens or recent newcomers.
A Few Consultation Highlights:
- Participants say they see or experience ageism in health care and public settings such as buses, grocery stores, local parks, or neighborhoods. Healthcare settings include family doctor practices, hospitals, and laboratories.
- In all settings, in addition to ageism, participants also experience racism, sexism, and ableism. And in all three sessions, discrimination based on lack of English language proficiency was repeatedly cited.
- Participants say public education on what aging means will help bridge understanding; especially, starting at a young age in elementary school. Sensitivity training for public and private institutions staff will help create policies and procedures that consider the needs of older people and encourage their participation.
- Finally, as a closing remark in one of the sessions, a participant said, “Amongst all <feedback and action>, maybe it’s a ministerial thing about rights of seniors that would be embedded into law.”
We thank the Canadian government for this national consultation, and we look forward to the final national report, which will synthesize and share findings across the country.
