By Times Chronicle Staff

Seniors in 25 communities throughout BC will benefit from grants for policies and projects that will support leading active and independent lives in their communities.

Through the Age-friendly Communities (AFC) program, a total of $500,000 in age-friendly grants are being awarded across 25 communities in BC this year. Six Indigenous communities are among the grant recipients.

This includes Oliver which received $7,700 for a project to support the health and safety of older adults in Oliver. This will be undertaken  through a series of workshops related to emergency preparedness, and two health and mental health fairs.

“Our government is committed to creating opportunities for more older adults in BC to be actively engaged within their communities and stay connected in the ways that matter to them and keep them healthy,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Health. 

“Every year, I look forward to seeing the plans and projects from these grants come to fruition because they help more communities across the province become more age-friendly. I thank the BC Healthy Communities Society for its work on promoting the Age-friendly Communities program and helping people develop their ideas that will benefit seniors in their local neighbourhoods.”

The AFC program has two grant streams to help local and Indigenous governments achieve the vision of building age-friendly communities:

  • Stream 1 focuses on completing age-friendly assessments and action plans; and
  • Stream 2 focuses on implementing age-friendly projects identified in the community’s action plan for programs, services or initiatives.

Of the 25 grants awarded this year, 16 grants were awarded in the planning stream, and nine grants were awarded toward the project stream.

The AFC program is a partnership between the provincial government and BC Healthy Communities Society (BCHC), which is a province-wide not-for-profit organization that facilitates the ongoing development of healthy, thriving and resilient communities.

Quick Facts:

  • By 2031, approximately one-quarter of the province’s population will be 65 or older.
  • In 2023, 25 communities received age-friendly grants across both streams.
  • Of the successful communities, 13 were rural and remote, six were new to receiving age-friendly funding and six were Indigenous communities.