Hon. Alice Wong, P.C.

The New Horizons for Seniors Program will help local organizations offer services benefiting seniors across Canada

March 19, 2014 – North Vancouver, British Columbia – Employment and Social Development Canada

Seniors across Canada will soon have new opportunities to mentor younger generations, help raise awareness of elder abuse and take part in community activities, Minister of State (Seniors) Alice Wong announced today. Minister Wong joined the Parkgate Community Services Society, a Vancouver-based not-for-profit organization, to highlight the New Horizons for Seniors Program (NHSP) now supporting hundreds of community-run programs across the country.

The Government of Canada is providing more than $33.4 million in funding for over 1 770 community-based projects across Canada. These projects, selected from the NHSP’s 2013–2014 call for proposals, will lead to a variety of new programs and activities for seniors.

Quick Facts

• Economic Action Plan 2014 proposes an additional $5 million per year for the NHSP to support projects that enable seniors to share their knowledge, skills and experiences with others. These projects also help communities increase their capacity to support seniors at a local level.
• Since 2006, the NHSP has funded more than 13 000 projects in hundreds of communities across Canada.
• NHSP-funded projects help offset the challenges of our aging demographics, which is important since the number of seniors in Canada is expected double in the next 20 years. For example, the Peel Elder Abuse Support Program produced a short film—Our Voices, Our Lives—to raise awareness of elder abuse.
• My Parkgate Break will provide seniors in the North Vancouver area with an opportunity to deliver art, fitness, recreation and social programs to seniors living with dementia.
• Economic Action Plan 2014 keeps Canada on the path back to balance in 2015, benefiting all Canadians.

Quotes

“Our government recognizes the diversity of skills, knowledge and experience that seniors contribute to our society and the economy. Through initiatives such as the New Horizons for Seniors Program, we are helping to ensure that seniors maintain a good quality of life and continue as active, participating members of their communities.”

– The Honourable Alice Wong, Minister of State (Seniors)

“Parkgate Community Services Society (PCSS) received a grant from the New Horizons for Seniors Program to fund a pilot project, My Parkgate Break, for a new innovative volunteer supported program for isolated seniors with early or moderate dementia. This program was conceived, planned and driven by the members of the Lionsview’s Seymour Seniors Action Table and staff from PCSS. This program will provide a safe, stimulating and life-enhancing place for participants, an opportunity to increase community capacity to enable seniors to live successfully within their community and much-needed respite for caregivers.”

– Lisa Reinders, Executive Director, Parkgate Community Services Society

Associated Links

• New Horizons for Seniors Program
• Funding: New Horizons for Seniors
• Economic Action Plan 2014

Contacts

Earl Maynard
Office of the Minister of State (Seniors)
613-716-5422

Media Relations Office
Employment and Social Development Canada
819-994-5559
media@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca
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Backgrounder

The New Horizons for Seniors Program (NHSP) is a federal grants and contributions program that supports projects led or inspired by seniors who make a difference in the lives of others and their communities. Through the NHSP, the Government of Canada encourages seniors to share their knowledge, skills and experiences to the benefit of others. Since 2006, the NHSP has funded more than 13 000 projects in hundreds of communities across Canada.

NHSP funding is targeted to both community-based and pan-Canadian projects.

Community-based project funding supports activities that engage seniors and address one or more of the program’s five objectives: volunteering, mentoring, expanding awareness of elder abuse, social participation and capital assistance. These projects are eligible to receive up to $25,000 per year per organization in grant funding.

Pan-Canadian projects provide support to help seniors protect themselves from elder abuse, including financial abuse and fraud abuse. These projects can enable community members to better recognize elder abuse in all its forms and to improve the quality of life, safety and security of seniors. Projects focus on developing tools, resources and promising practices that can be adapted and shared across communities, regions or Canada and may be eligible to receive up to $250,000 per year for a maximum of three years.

Over 1 770 NHSP community-based projects were approved through the 2013–2014 call for proposals, for a total of more than $33.4 million in funding.

Funding Breakdown

The next NHSP call for proposals for community-based projects is anticipated to be launched in the spring of 2014. For more information on the NHSP, visit www.hrsdc.gc.ca/seniors.

Filed under: News, Seniors