By Joel Wittnebel/Active Senior’s Digest
It’s only a single day, but as Canada’s population continues to age, National Seniors Day on Oct. 1 could become one of our nation’s largest celebrations.
Aimed at celebrating Canada’s elderly population and honouring their accomplishments, this year marks the fifth-annual National Seniors Day, established after the Celebrating Canadian Seniors Act was ratified in November 2010. This year is shaping up to be the biggest celebration to date, especially according to the numbers.
As Canada’s baby boomers continue to age, all of them becoming newly anointed seniors over the age of 65 by 2031, this will mean nearly a quarter of our population will be considered senior citizens.
In fact, 2015 marked the first time there were more Canadian citizens above the age of 65 than under the age of 15.
“This is one of our many challenges in terms of the growth,” explains Sandra Black, the executive director of the Oshawa Senior Citizens Centre (OSCC), which operates four locations across the city of Oshawa.
“We know that the seniors population is going to grow by over 70 per cent in the next 10 years and that is incredible.”
For that reason, Black, and other organizations across Canada are preparing themselves to provide services and programs that will suit this newest generation of clientele. Using celebrations like National Seniors Day to spread the work are perfect opportunities.
“We embrace this opportunity and every opportunity to get out in the community and elevate the image of seniors,” Black says.
It’s the reason the Government of Canada launched the event five years ago, and something Black says forms the keystone for these events and programs year-round.
“We look at this as a chance to get the message out,” she says. “To recognize the valuable input that seniors provide in our communities. It’s to recognize the fact that seniors play a vital part in every aspect of our daily lives and just how vital their lives are and how active they are.”
Seniors today are more active than they’ve ever been in the past. According to Statistics Canada.
The year National Seniors Day was launched in 2011, the average senior was volunteering 223 hours. This is compared with 167 hours for those aged 45 to 54 and 130 hours for those 15 to 24. By 2013, that number jumped to 231 annual hours for those aged 65 to 74, almost double that of those between 35 and 44.
In many cases, seniors are actually a part of the planning for Seniors Day events and, for that reason, Black says the day is for everyone to celebrate.
“It’s about family members and friends to know that the seniors in our community are an important part of everyone’s lives and just because a person reaches a certain age, it doesn’t minimize what they can contribute, so it’s a way of recognizing that,” she says. “Every one of us has a senior in our life, whether it be a friend, a neighbour, a family member, we all need to celebrate that person and what their lives have meant.”
On Oct. 1, the OSCC will be hosting its Active Living Fair at Oshawa’s Five Points Mall.
For information on other National Seniors Day events, contact your local seniors organization or visit www.seniors.gc.ca.
