Canada ranked among best countries for older people

Canada is among the top five best places in which to be a senior according to a ranking of 96 countries by HelpAge International.

Released today in connection with the United Nations International Day of Older Persons, the organization’s Global Age Watch Index 2014 rates the wellbeing of older people on the basis of income security, health, personal capability and enabling environments.

Norway ranks at the top of the index, followed by Sweden and Switzerland, with Canada in fourth place.  The U.S. comes in at eighth place, with the U.K. out of the top ten at number 11.

Canada rates high in all four categories, although satisfaction with the state of public transportation is lower.

Afghanistan is the worst place for an older person, according to the index, while just above it are Mozambique (95), West Bank and Gaza (94) and Malawi (93).

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

HelpAge is also taking the occasion to further its Age Demands Action campaign in support of seniors’ rights and issues, taking place in around 50 countries worldwide. Activists plan to use the index in meetings with policy makers. They are also calling for a UN convention on the rights of older people.

October 1 was designated the International Day of Older Persons by a resolution the United Nations General Assembly on December 14, 1990. The theme of the 2014 commemoration is “Leaving No One Behind: Promoting a Society for All.”

"Older persons make wide-ranging contributions to economic and social development,” stated UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “However, discrimination and social exclusion persist. We must overcome this bias in order to ensure a socially and economically active, secure and healthy ageing population."

In Canada, October 1 is also celebrated as National Seniors Day.

In a statement marking the day Minister of State (Finance) Kevin Sorenson focused on federal government moves benefiting seniors financially, including targeted tax relief, including pension income splitting and a doubling of the pension income credit eligibility level.

In addition, Sornenson highlighted plans to help older Canadians better manage their financial affairs.

“Over the last number of months, our government has been consulting on a national strategy for financial literacy, with the first phase focused on seniors,” he said. “This strategy will engage more Canadians in preparing financially for their senior years; help seniors to plan and manage their financial affairs; improve the understanding of and access to public benefits for seniors; and increase the tools to combat financial abuse. I expect to unveil this important strategy soon.”

International Day of Older Persons was also being observed with a rally in Windsor, Ontario. The event was organized by the Unifor Retired Workers Area Council, the Seniors Advisory Committee-Windsor, National Pension Reform Committee, National Pensioners Federation, CARP Windsor-Essex, Municipal Retirees Organization Ontario and Life After Fifty.

"On this day, we not only celebrate the effort of our elders to build a better society for all of us, but also commit to fight for pension and decent health care so future generations can retire with dignity," said Len Hope, chair of the Unifor Retired Workers Council Executive and member of the Unifor National Executive Board.

"Older persons are among the first to fall victim to a downturn in the economy or the effects of globalization."