At the 2026 Rural Ontario Municipalities Association conference in Toronto this week, the Ontario government officially designated Greater Sudbury as an age-friendly community. “It’s great to be recognized. We’re finding that more and more of the citizens of Sudbury are older adults,” said Barbara Nott, co-chair of Sudbury’s older adult advisory panel. The award recognizes municipalities that prioritize accessibility and create environments where older adults can remain active and connected. Sudbury is one of a small group of Ontario cities to meet the criteria this year. From hosting the Ontario 55-Plus Summer Games to its annual Healthy Aging Fair, Nott said a few factors led to the designation. “We’re continually trying to be better here in Sudbury because of the numbers of our older adults,” she said. “We want to make sure things are happening for them, because one of the worst things we can do for our older adults is not have activities for them.” John Lindsay, former chair of the Sudbury chapter of the Canadian Association for Retired Persons, said that half of the population in Sudbury is older than 50. “Also, 60,000 of us are over the age of 65,” Lindsay said. “We’re really happy that this award recognizes the work that the city is doing and other organizations, because we have many senior organizations (in) Sudbury.” More work to be done Despite the designation, he said that there is still a lot of work to be done, adding that a number of older adults worry about the cost of living and taxes. “When you look at tax (increases) that are more than double the rate of inflation, this can be a real concern,” Lindsay said. “You hear it from seniors all the time. ‘Should we leave town? Should we go to other areas where taxes are less?’ They’re very concerned about taxes.” To better understand these challenges, the city’s advisory panel held 25 ‘Coffee Chats’ last year, gathering direct feedback from more than 300 older adults. “Housing was one of the big concerns. Transportation was the other, especially in the outlying areas,” Nott said. One response to those concerns has been the ‘Free Transit Tuesday’ initiative, which was championed by Ward 7 Coun. Natalie Labbee. “We found that more and more of our older adults would get together as a group, get on that free bus and go, say, to the New Sudbury Shopping Centre to shop and have lunch,” Nott said. “And that’s the key to making sure our older adults are healthy.” Originally launched as a summer pilot project, the program was made permanent due to massive demand, providing free ridership to seniors on the first Tuesday of every month.
