Celebrating Seniors in our Communities Through Volunteerism and Story-Telling

The aging of Canada’s population has been well documented and discussed at length in a multitude of policy sectors from the front-­‐‑line to Parliament. Front and centre in these changing demographics are the broad implications for health care, leisure, social assistance, and quality of life among other factors. It is this reality that has contributed to a much-­‐‑needed discussion of the often marginalized place that seniors hold in society and the concomitant recognition that this cohort of the population has tremendous untapped contributory potential in economic, political, social and cultural terms. The fiscal and social landscape painted by the statistics presented by various stakeholders mandates a new and progressive approach – one that more explicitly acknowledges the research indicating an inverse relationship between quality of life measures and economic costs associated with senior citizens.