NEWS RELEASE
COUNTY OF SIMCOE
*************************
The County of Simcoe is congratulating 17 local businesses and organizations for taking action to become more age-friendly.
In honour of their dedicated and committed efforts, the County is awarding partners with certificates that recognize their leadership in creating welcoming environments for older adults.
The Age-Friendly Business Guide and Award program increases awareness of the County’s aging population and helps businesses or organizations evaluate their business environment and service delivery. Over the past year, the County has provided resources and assessment tools to help them implement age-friendly goals and strategies and adapt to our aging population.
“On behalf of County Council, I would like to congratulate and thank all our businesses and organizations that have supported this County initiative and taken action to adapt to the needs of our aging population,” said Warden George Cornell. “Our region is home to a growing number of seniors and it’s important that our communities, services and businesses offer accessible opportunities for all our residents.”
The businesses and organizations receiving recognition for their participation in the 2019 Age-Friendly Businesses and Organization Guide and Award Program are:
- Advanced Foot & Orthotic Clinic – Midland
- Bradford Wellness Centre – Bradford
- Coordinated Senior Services – Barrie
- Discount Luxury – Barrie
- Elder Mediation & Advocacy – Alliston
- Georgian Bay Integrative Medicine – Collingwood
- Georgian Family Chiropractic – Wasaga Beach
- HearingLife – Bradford
- Holland Gardens Retirement Residence – Bradford
- Hunt Family Movers – Innisfil
- Javelin Cooperative Homes Inc – Midland
- J. Scott Thomson, Barrister & Solicitor – Collingwood
- Orillia Museum of Art and History – Orillia
- Right at Home Canada, Georgian Triangle – Collingwood
- RBA Financial Group – Wasaga Beach
- The Elden of Bradford Retirement Residence – Bradford
- The Yoga House – Penetanguishene
The Canadian population aged 65 and over is predicted to double to 10.4 million during the next 20 years. In Simcoe County, the proportion of adults aged 65 plus is 18 per cent of the population compared to 16.7 per cent in Ontario. As our population ages, it makes viable business sense to adapt to meet changing needs.
About the Age-Friendly Community Initiative
The County of Simcoe received funding from the Government of Ontario of as part of its Age-Friendly Community Planning Grant Program. The funding served to establish a baseline assessment of Simcoe County’s age-friendliness and to determine the recommendations for action according to scope of community responsibility.
A variety of community engagement processes were used to collect feedback from residents 60 years of age and older, caregivers, and service providers of older adults to produce the “Building an Age-Friendly Simcoe County - 2016 Community Needs Assessment” and the County’s “Positive Aging Strategy”.
Both documents can be found at http://www.simcoe.ca/age-friendly. The Age-Friendly Business/Organization and Recognition program is one of the recommendations included in the aging strategy.
*************************
