Item - 2024.HL13.1

The Board of Health:  

1. Requested the Medical Officer of Health collaborate with community partners and relevant City divisions and agencies, including continuing Toronto Public Health's active participation on the Toronto Seniors Strategy, to identify and implement policies and other interventions to enhance the social, natural and built environments that promote and protect the health of a growing population of older adults.

2. Requested the Medical Officer of Health continue partnership and engagement with First Nations, Inuit and Métis (FNIM) communities, organizations and service providers to understand the impacts of colonization and the linked policies, systems and structures on systemic racism, discrimination, unmet care needs, service access barriers and inequities faced by aging FNIM communities in Toronto.

The Acting Director of Community Health & Well-being and Chief Nursing Officer and the Associate Medical Officer of Health gave a presentation on Healthy Aging in Toronto.

The number of older adults in Toronto is increasing. In 2021, the number of Torontonians who were 65 years and older was estimated to be 477,000. That number is estimated to rise by over 50 per cent by 2041, with people 75 years and older rising the most.

This demographic shift comes with anticipated population health impacts. Poorer health outcomes among low-income older adults, increased difficulty accessing health and social services, effects of social isolation and loneliness and health impacts related to changing environments are expected. However, the health of older adults can be positively affected by protective behaviours, such as increased physical activity and socialization.

To prepare for this change, Toronto Public Health is working closely with community partners and relevant City partners. This includes supporting the Toronto Seniors Strategy and identifying and implementing interventions to enhance the social, natural and built environments that promote and protect the health of a growing population of older adults.

First Nations, Inuit and Métis (FNIM) communities additionally face impacts of colonialism, systematic racism, discrimination, unmet care needs, service access barriers and inequities. Toronto Public Health will continue to partner and engage with FNIM communities, organizations and service providers to understand these impacts.

Toronto Public Health will continue to work through multisectoral collaborations to advance a city that is increasingly age-friendly, age-inclusive and age-equitable for its older adults.