Skip to content

The Book

The Canadian population is growing older and is reshaping the nation’s economic, social and cultural future. However, the built and social environments of many communities, neighbourhoods and cities have not been designed to help Canadians age well.

Bringing together academic research, practitioner reflections and personal narratives from older adults across Canada, this cutting-edge text provides a rare spotlight on the local implications of aging in Canadian cities and communities. It explores employment, housing, transportation, cultural safety, health, planning and more, to provide a wide-ranging and comprehensive discussion of how to build supportive communities for Canadians of all ages.

“With a remarkable depth of insight into the diverse contexts of aging in Canada, especially the groundbreaking emphasis on indigenous experiences of aging, this book is an excellent resource for understanding better 21st century aging societies.” Mark Skinner, Trent University

Read the Introduction chapter (for free – thanks Policy Press!)

Front cover of the Aging People, Aging Places book. Contains the book title, subtitle (Experiences, Opportunities, and Challenges of Growing Older in Canada), editors (Maxwell Hartt, Samantha Biglieri, Mark W. Rosenburg, and Sarah E. Nelson) on top of a picture of a cross-section of a tree trunk.

Table of Contents

Introduction ~ Maxwell Hartt and Samantha Biglieri

Part One: Urban
1. Aging in Urban Canada ~ Samantha Biglieri, Maxwell Hartt and Natalie S. Channer
2. “An Accessible Route is Always the Longest” ~ Atiya Mahmood and Delphine Labbé
3. Urban Community Vignette ~ Lillian Wells
4. Walking in the City: Seniors’ Experiences in Canada and France ~ Marie-Soleil Cloutier and Florence Huguenin-Richard
5. Urban Practitioner Vignette ~ Marianne Wilkat and Barry Pendergast, with Natalie S. Channer

Part Two: Suburban
6. Aging in Suburban Canada ~ Maxwell Hartt, Natalie S. Channer and Samantha Biglieri
7. An Age-Friendly City? LGBTQ and Frail Older Adults ~ Lindsay Herman, Ryan Walker and Mark Rosenberg
8. Suburban Community Vignette ~ Candace Skrapek and Elliot Paus Jenssen
9. New Mobilities and Aging in the Suburbs ~ Jennifer Dean and Edward Donato
10. Suburban Practitioner Vignette ~ Chris Kawalec with Madison Empey-Salisbury

Part Three: Rural
11. Aging in Rural Canada ~ Natalie S. Channer, Samantha Biglieri, and Maxwell Hartt
12. A Profile of the Rural and Remote Older Population ~ Mark W. Rosenberg
13. Rural Community Vignette ~ Della Webster and Sylvia Humphries
14. Supports and Limitations of Aging-in-a-Rural-Place for Women Age 85 and Older ~ Olive Bryanton, Lori E. Weeks and William Montelpare
15. Rural Practitioner Vignette ~ John Whalley

Part Four: Indigenous
16. Aging in Indigenous Canada ~ Sarah Nelson
17. Pursuing Pathways to Care: Dementia and Aging in Indigenous Communities ~ Carrie Bourassa, Mackenzie Jardine, Danette Starblanket, Sebastien Lefebvre, Marlin Legare, Dana Hickey, Jessica Dieter, Betty McKenna, Gail Boehme and Nicole Akan
18. Indigenous Community Vignette ~ Larry McDermott
19. Métis Older Adults and the Negotiation of Nativeness ~ John Lewis
20. Indigenous Practitioner Vignette ~ Connie Paul

Conclusion ~ Mark W. Rosenberg

Video of the Aging People, Aging Places book launch. A transcript of this video is available here.

From the Contributors

Delphine Labbé (University of Illinois at Chicago) and Atiya Mahmood (Simon Fraser University)
John Lewis (University of Waterloo)
Madison Empey-Salisbury (Queen’s University)
Marie-Soleil Cloutier (Institut national de la recherche scientifique) and Florence Hughenin-Richard (Sorbonne University)

A video introducing the Saskatoon Council on Aging shared by book contributors Candace Skrapek and Elliot Paus Jenssen (Chapter 8). More information can be found here.

Two older adults in a kitchen standing beside each other. The one on the left is wearing an apron, has a dish towel across his right shoulder and has his right arm on the other older adult's right shoulder. The one on the right is making a "thumbs up" motion in front of his body with his right hand.
10 older adults are smiling for a photo, with three older adults sitting on chairs in front of the other older adults. All of them are holding certificates in front of them.
7 older adults are standing beside each other and posing for a photo. They are all holding certificates in front of them.
7 older adults are sitting at a long, white table. They are eating a meal .
6 older adults are sitting around a table.  White paper and writing tools are on the table and are in some of the older adults' hands. They are discussing amongst each other.
One older adult is preparing a meal with his hands, while wearing an apron. Another adult is peering over the cook's right shoulder to observe what he is preparing..

“Healthy Chefs” was a pilot project of the Wellness Branch of the Province of New Brunswick.  It was designed by dieticians with seniors in mind.  Greenwich Recreation Association was the first group in the province to pilot it.  There were two sessions held in the fall of 2019 and two more in January and February of 2020, just before Covid hit. The seniors in attendance were guided through the project by a qualified chef who lives in our area and offered her time and expertise free of charge.  Seniors were instructed on nutrition, safe food preparation and storage, cooking for one etc.  At the end of the five week session each senior received a certificate and a recipe booklet.  

Della Webster


Aging People, Aging Places
general@agingpeopleagingplaces.com