Message from the Councillor

Supporting Aging in Place through Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities

Bay Ward has the greatest proportion of older adults by ward in the City of Ottawa and is the home to many Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities, or “NORCs”. A NORC occurs whenever a significant proportion of residents in a given building or neighborhood is over the age of 65. We know that more than 96% of older adults want to age at home for as long as possible. Programs like the Oasis programs in 6 Bay Ward NORC buildings are demonstrating that this goal is possible, successful and cost effective. Oasis-type programs bring recreation, social, health and wellness programs on-site to help people age at home. The Ottawa Oasis pilot project is a partnership between Queen’s University, The Olde Forge, the Council on Aging and the residents in those 6 buildings, and these programs are seeing amazing results in quality of life and community belonging. I believe that every neighourhood would benefit from this type of on-site support, and I want to see it happen all across Ottawa.

This week got us one step closer to that happening. The report that I brought to the Community Services Committee on Tuesday, April 22, will be a tool to help us advocate for an Aging in Place Strategy and funding from provincial and federal governments. And it will make sure that our new Older Adult Plan promotes the priorities of community-based supports to enable Aging in Place. I’m excited to know that we’re expanding the resources that will be available to the many NORC communities who get in touch with my office to find out more Aging in Place options they can develop.

The full report is attached for your information.

7.1Councillor T. Kavanagh – Supporting Aging in Place through Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities

File No. ACS2025-OCC-CCS-0049 – City-wide

• Report Recommendation(s)That the Community Services Committee recommend that Council:
  1. Request that the Government of Canada develop a national strategy to better support Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs) model in their programming to enable aging in place across the country; and
  2. Request that the Province of Ontario and the Government of Canada establish long-term sustainable funding streams to support capital infrastructure and programming costs associated with Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities; and
  3. Request that the Province of Ontario explore opportunities streamline home care services in Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities in order to simplify older adults’ access to services and refine the current fragmented system; and
  4. Direct staff to incorporate into the upcoming Ottawa’s Older Adult Plan the collaboration with community partners to monitor and provide up to date information on the prevalence of apartment-based (“vertical”) and neighborhood-based (“horizontal”) NORCs in Ottawa to support infrastructure and program planning; and
  5. Direct staff to incorporate into the upcoming Ottawa’s Older Adult Plan the development of a NORC collaboration network with community partners to enhance community-based aging in place services.

——————-

For more City of Ottawa updates, please visit the City of Ottawa Newsroom.

For a complete agenda and updates, please sign up for email alerts, visit ottawa.ca/agendas or call 3-1-1. For more information about how to watch or participate in individual meetings, please consult the specific meeting’s agenda at ottawa.ca/agendas.