Seniors, caregivers and entrepreneurs turn to tech as Canada's population gets older than ever
CBC
From robots that carry laundry baskets up the stairs to apps that help seniors communicate — some in the technology sector are focused on how they can improve the lives of Canada's aging population.
At AgeTech Innovation Week, more than 25 vendors turned out to show off the latest tech and research. Toronto senior Lorna Earl came out of curiosity, but also as a member of the Toronto Council on Aging and her condo's health and wellness committee.
"We have so much more than I ever imagined would be available," she said. "It's very exciting."
Earl wants to see how the products are incorporated — not just into individual homes but communities too.
"I'm a baby boomer and I say that proudly," she said.
"Technology has followed us all through our lives. We do push the limits. And in fairly recent years, the limits are being pushed by an aging population that is used to having good support, good access and will advocate for themselves."
Over the next three decades, Statistics Canada projects that the number of people aged 85 and older could triple from 861,000 to 2.7 million.
By 2051, the agency says almost one-quarter of the population could be older than 64 — meaning there'll be nearly 12 million seniors. Those projections are one of the driving forces behind a rise in technology focused on improving the lives of seniors and their caregivers.
University of Toronto professor Alex Mihailidis is the CEO of AGE-WELL, which hosted the multi-day event. He says one of the most important aspects of the event is educating people about the technology available to support them in their own homes.
"Obviously our population is getting older, we know that it's going to potentially be a challenge for us to deal with in terms of maintaining the health and wellness of our population. So the best thing that can happen is for us all to remain in our homes and communities of our choosing as we grow older," he said.
Mihailidis says technology isn't meant to replace caregivers, himself included, but to give them peace of mind by giving them the ability to stay connected with aging loved ones and knowledgeable about their health.
"I think we all have this expectation of technology being part of our health and wellness growing older, that's what this network is all about, helping to accelerate that," Mihailidis said.
Jayiesh Singh, CEO and co-founder of Able Innovations Inc watched his mother sustain injuries moving and transferring patients after working for years in long-term care homes. Knowing the problem was widespread, he says, was one of his motivations to create the ALTA Platform, a robotic patient transfer technology.
At the moment, Singh says the way people are moved in and out of their beds isn't often a dignified process.
Shopping local may be the desire, but affordability might decide where shoppers spend their money this Christmas season.
As classes across New Brunswick pause for the holidays, it’s not yet clear which schools are making a dent in chronic absenteeism — a stubborn post-pandemic trend that mostly afflicts the high school cohort, especially in the Anglophone West school district.
CBC Quebec has launched its Make the Season Kind campaign. It's our annual campaign that focuses on food insecurity, while also celebrating kindness, generosity and community spirit around the province.
Premier Wab Kinew says Manitoba will hold a public inquiry as soon as 2026 into the former Progressive Conservative government’s post-election efforts to approve an environmental licence for sand-mining company Sio Silica.
Premier Scott Moe has led the Saskatchewan Party through two straight elections, winning majority governments each time.
Eight weeks after adding a GM BrightDrop van to the fleet of his plumbing and heating business, Marty Salliss has no complaints, only praise.
Nearly half of Alberta’s Grade 6 students failed the provincewide math test in 2024, three years after the province started rolling out its new elementary school curriculum.
Toronto could get new cars on the road whose drivers will never get frustrated by gridlock — because the cars would be driving themselves.
Amidst a cost-of-living crisis, some London-area organizations say they have noticed a decline in donations this holiday season.
Prominent northern leaders have been touting the Arctic economic and security corridor as a "nation-building" project that will bring economic benefits to the two territories it straddles, but others are split on how much good will come out of it.
When the federal government tabled its 2025 budget last month, it included a proposal that tax fraud experts say is long overdue — if also a belated acknowledgement that the Canada Revenue Agency has been repeatedly duped into paying out untold millions in bogus tax refunds to scammers.
Talking with an AI chatbot can successfully convince people to change their votes and could affect the outcome of future elections, according to a new study.
While some are writing wishlists for Santa Claus, a group of Newfoundland and Labrador youth are writing their wishlist for the provincial government.