{"id":3507,"date":"2026-01-06T12:25:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T20:25:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/?p=3507"},"modified":"2026-01-07T08:49:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T16:49:21","slug":"2026-age-friendly-communities-grants-to-open-soon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/2026\/01\/06\/2026-age-friendly-communities-grants-to-open-soon\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Age-friendly Communities grants to open soon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/elderly-exercise-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"elderly women exercising\" class=\"wp-image-3509\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/elderly-exercise-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/elderly-exercise-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/elderly-exercise-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/elderly-exercise.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Community grant funding focused on helping B.C. seniors to lead independent, active lives will open on January 19, 2026, through the <strong>Age-friendly Communities (AFC) Program<\/strong>, delivered in partnership by the Province of British Columbia and BC Healthy Communities (BCHC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Age friendly community grants play a crucial role in supporting seniors as they age, and I am delighted to see them continue to fund a wide range of local projects that promote seniors\u2019 engagement and belonging,&#8221; said Susie Chant, Parliamentary Secretary for Seniors\u2019 Services and Long-Term Care. &#8220;It is wonderful to see the growing list of communities joining the movement to create safe and accessible environments for seniors where they feel socially engaged.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Local and Indigenous governments and communities are invited to submit applications for 2026 funding. This year\u2019s grant intake will support two funding streams:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Stream 1 \u2013 Up to $25,000<\/strong> for age-friendly assessments and action plans<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Stream 2 \u2013 Up to $15,000<\/strong> for age-friendly projects that promote the health, safety, and engagement of older adults<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>By 2031, nearly one-quarter of the province&#8217;s population will be 65 or older. The AFC Program helps communities respond to this demographic shift by supporting initiatives that foster independence, connection, and wellbeing among older adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Everyone in B.C. deserves to feel at ease and connected with the people in their homes and communities,&#8221; said Debra Toporowski, Parliamentary Secretary for Rural Health. &#8220;Age-friendly grants are giving communities, particularly rural, remote and Indigenous communities, the tools they need to grow healthier and become more resilient so older adults can age in place and live active, independent and fulfilling lives.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2024, 26 communities received AFC funding across both streams, including 13 rural\/remote communities and six Indigenous communities. The full list of AFC grant communities in 2024 can be found <a href=\"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/2025\/01\/07\/afc-grant-recipients-in-2024\/\">here<\/a>. Funded projects ranged from transportation plans, emergency-preparedness strategies and inclusive communications to accessible outdoor spaces such as community gardens, parks and nature trails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Age-friendly Communities Program continues to drive meaningful change across B.C.,\u201d said BCHC Executive Director Vanessa Manuel. \u201cThese grants help ensure local and Indigenous governments have the tools they need to support older adults in living healthy, connected, independent lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Info Session<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>An online information session will be hosted in late January (stay tuned for details), offering prospective applicants an opportunity to learn more about the AFC grant process and to ask questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Learn More<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Full details on the 2026 program \u2013 including application guidelines, eligibility and deadlines \u2013 will be available at the AFC funding page:<br>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/afc-grants-application-guide\/\"><strong>https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/afc-grants-application-guide\/<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Grant applications will be open until 11:59 pm, PST, on March 12, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Applications open Jan. 19, 2026, offering B.C. local and Indigenous governments grants to plan and deliver age-friendly projects that support older adults independence, safety and social connection<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3509,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[19],"class_list":["post-3507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-afc-grants","tag-age-friendly-communities"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":95,"label":"AFC Grants"}],"post_tag":[{"value":19,"label":"Age-friendly Communities"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/elderly-exercise-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Patrick Dunne","author_link":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/author\/bchc_admin\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":95,"name":"AFC Grants","slug":"afc-grants","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":95,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":95,"category_count":2,"category_description":"","cat_name":"AFC Grants","category_nicename":"afc-grants","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":19,"name":"Age-friendly Communities","slug":"age-friendly-communities","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":19,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":30,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3507"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3538,"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3507\/revisions\/3538"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}