The City of Toronto is committed to becoming an age-equitable city. This means taking specific actions to improve the lives of seniors from Indigenous, Black and other equity-deserving communities.

Through the Toronto Seniors’ Forum, residents aged 60 years and older, can shape the actions taken by the City to advance its commitment to age-equity. Members of the Toronto Seniors’ Forum work with City staff, elected officials, and community-based organizations to ensure City services and programs meaningfully respond to the needs of diverse Toronto seniors.

To promote diversity in the perspectives and experiences that inform the work of the Toronto Seniors’ Forum, members are recruited to represent a range of demographic and geographic communities, including:

  • Indigenous People
  • Members of diverse ethno-racial communities, including, but not limited to, Black, Asian, South Asian, Latin American communities
  • Two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and other gender- and sexually-diverse communities (2SLGBTQI+)
  • People with lived experience of poverty
  • People with lived experience of living unsheltered or in the shelter system
  • Residents of different communities and neighbourhoods within the City of Toronto

Mission Statement

The Toronto Seniors’ Forum facilitates the civic engagement of senior residents in Toronto, works to ensure that municipal services are provided equitably to all seniors in Toronto, and advocates on behalf of senior residents.

The Toronto Seniors’ Forum supports the City of Toronto to achieve its commitment to age equity. Members leverage their lived experiences to provide advice, education, assistance, and advocacy to City staff and City Councillors on a range of key issues for Toronto seniors. This may involve holding consultations, facilitating educational programs, and providing recommendations on seniors-specific programs and services delivered by the City of Toronto.

Key Issues for Toronto Seniors

To develop the Toronto Seniors Strategy 2.0, over 3,000 seniors and caregivers participated in more than 90 consultation sessions in every ward across Toronto and an additional 7,000 provided input through a survey. Through this extensive engagement, the City identified the following key issues for Toronto seniors, prioritized for action in the Toronto Seniors Strategy 2.0:

  • Health
  • Housing
  • Transportation
  • Employment and income
  • Access to information

These priorities were identified before the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a disproportionate impact on seniors and those who care for them. The pandemic also exposed underlying cracks in service systems and deep-seated inequities that had an even greater impact on seniors from Black, Indigenous, and equity-deserving communities. The Toronto Seniors Strategy 2.0 Final Report tells the story of the efforts between 2018 and 2022 to advance the City’s priorities for seniors and lays the foundation for new work that will harness the lessons learned throughout the pandemic to create a more equitable city for Toronto seniors.