Why become an AFC recognized community?
AFC recognition will grant communities:
- An AFC Provincial letter of recognition
- Access to an AFC digital seal for use on community materials and websites
- Recommendation by the BC Ministry of Health to be granted age-friendly recognition at the national and international levels, through the Public Health Agency of Canada and the World Health Organization (WHO) respectively
- Access to a network of other communities (domestic and international) to learn from colleagues in other jurisdictions
Here’s what the program sets out to do:
Formally recognize and reward communities in BC that have completed age-friendly work and keep track of how many communities achieve AFC recognition status each year
Support and guide additional communities in BC to attain formal age-friendly recognition and keep track of how many communities are engaged in the process
Build upon the momentum generated in BC communities about the importance of age-friendly concepts and continue to promote these across the province
Raise awareness in communities about the needs of older residents and how changes can be implemented to support older adults’ independence and healthy, active aging
Age-friendly Community (AFC) Recognition
Communities can apply for AFC recognition through BC Healthy Communities. Four criteria are required for recognition as an age-friendly community. These include:
Establish an Age-friendly Communities Committee or Group, with the active participation of older adults
Pass a Council/District Board or Band Council Resolution
Conduct an Age-friendly Assessment
Develop and Publish an Action Plan
What happens when a community is recognized?
To maintain recognition, communities are encouraged to:
- Implement their action plan
- Monitor and publicly report progress
- Update priorities over time
- Progress is reviewed periodically to ensure continued impact.
What are the benefits of AFC recognition?
AFC Recognized communities in BC receive:
- A provincial letter of age-friendly community (AFC) recognition status
- An official AFC digital seal indicating “We are a BC Age-friendly Community!” for use on promotional materials and websites
- Promotion through provincial and BC Healthy Communities channels and platforms
- Opportunities to connect and share information with national and international age-friendly networks and communities
- Increased visibility and credibility for funding and partnerships
For more information on the application process, please be in touch with us at agefriendlybc@bchealthycommunities.ca. Ready to apply? Follow the link below to “Submit your application”.
Age-friendly Community Recognition
Frequently asked questions
Why do age-friendly communities matter?+
As the population ages, communities share responsibility with other partners to create policies, programs and spaces that support older adults to age in place to:
- Be physically active and independent
- Feel safe, supported and included
- Engage and contribute socially, economically, and civically
- Age-friendly planning helps create healthier, more livable communities for everyone.
What are key features of an age-friendly community?+
Age-friendly communities focus on eight areas:
- Outdoor spaces and public buildings
- Transportation (including road safety)
- Housing
- Social wellbeing participation
- Respect, social inclusion and cultural safety
- Community engagement and employment
- Communication and information
- Community support, and health and wellness services
Who can be involved in becoming age-friendly?+
While the initiative is led by local governments, success depends on broad community involvement, including:
- Older adults and sub-populations within (e.g. older adults who are LGBTQ2S+, Indigenous, newcomers, in an ethnic minority group, have physical or cognitive disabilities, are low-income and/or isolated, etc.)
- Community members including youth and caregivers and people with disabilities
- Community and non-profit organizations
- Health, wellness and social service providers
- Businesses
- Indigenous communities
What are the main steps to becoming an age-friendly community?+
There are six key steps:
- Establish an age-friendly committee — Bring together seniors, local government, and community partners.
- Pass a council or board resolution — Formally commit to becoming age-friendly.
- Conduct an age-friendly assessment — Identify community strengths, gaps, and barriers through surveys, focus groups, or consultations.
- Develop and publish an action plan — Set priorities, actions, responsibilities, and timelines.
- Implement the action plan — Put identified actions into practice.
- Monitor progress — Measure progress, outcomes, report publicly and adjust priorities as needed.
What is an age-friendly assessment?+
An age-friendly assessment gathers input from the community to:
- Identify existing community strengths, assets and gaps
- Understand the real and perceived barriers older adults and other community members face
- Set priorities for action
- Assessments may include community engagement through surveys, focus groups, and community consultations.
Why is a formal action plan important?+
An action plan:
- Turns community input into concrete steps
- Identifies who is responsible for each action
- Helps secure funding and partnerships
- Allows progress to be tracked and reported
- Publishing the plan increases transparency and accountability.
What makes age-friendly initiatives successful?+
Communities are most successful when they:
- Have strong community support
- Identify an age-friendly “champion” to progress the work
- Assign dedicated staff support
- Involve older adults and diverse partners
- Secure seed funding
- Start with small, achievable actions
- Work closely with local media
- Use provincial resources and supports from BC Healthy Communities