Seniors

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Since I was elected to City Council in 2010, and appointed as Toronto’s Seniors Advocate in 2016, I have been working closely with residents, community groups and local organizations, experts and City Staff to ensure that Toronto is an accessible, respectful, and age-friendly City. Through the years, versions 1.0 and 2.0 of Toronto’s Seniors Strategy were both adopted unanimously by City Council, a Toronto Seniors Strategy Subcommittee has been created, Toronto was acknowledged as an Age-Friendly City by the World Health Organization, and so much more. While I am so proud of the major steps taken so far, there is still more work to be done

Toronto Seniors Strategy 1.0

In April 2011, I brought forward a motion to City Council directing staff to develop a Seniors Strategy that builds on the existing work of the City and its partners, as well as current research and best practices. This motion was unanimously adopted by City Council. In 2013, Toronto’s first Seniors Strategy 1.0 was created

Toronto Seniors Strategy 2.0

Following direction of City Council in 2015 to develop the second edition of Toronto’s Seniors Strategy, Version 2.0 builds on the success of Version 1.0 and makes 27 new recommendations including the establishment of a Seniors Housing and Services Division at the City, to provide a one-stop shop for councillor’s offices and residents alike to seek information and guidance on all matters of interest to seniors. I happy to announce that in May 2018, Toronto’s Seniors Strategy 2.0 was unanimously adopted by Council

Seniors’ Resources

Knowing who to contact for assistance, home care, programs and services, etc. can certainly be a challenge. I hope you find the list of community resources below helpful and I welcome you to stay tuned for more to come!

CareTO

I’m proactively working to change the culture in the City’s 10 Long-Term Care (LTC) Homes. During 2018, my motion was unanimously adopted by Council to take the first steps toward transforming the level of care delivered in our LTC homes. Through implementing emotion-centred models such as the Butterfly and Greenhouse Project approaches, staff will be able to focus on the emotional well-being of residents with dementia, and all seniors, in their care. I’m proud to announce that during Council’s approval of the 2022 budget, this initiative, which is also known as CareTO, has successfully received funding to expand across all 10 LTC homes. This new approach fundamentally increases the attention and support that its residents are given by ensuring the hours of care each resident receives daily increases from 2.75 to 3.25 hours, renewing focus on training to ensure staff have the skills to provide culturally responsive
emotion-centered care and creating more home-like environments.