ABSTRACT
The World Health Organization (WHO) launched the Global Age-Friendly Cities project in 2006 (WHO, 2007). Since then, there has been rapidly growing interest in the concept of age-friendliness on the part of policymakers worldwide (Plouffe & Kalache, 2011; WHO, 2010). In Canada, several provinces have introduced age-friendly initiatives (Plouffe et al., 2013; Public Health Agency of Canada, 2010). Manitoba, a midwestern Canadian province, launched its Age-Friendly Manitoba Initiative (AFMI) in 2008 as a way to “support seniors in leading active, socially engaged, independent lives that contribute to healthy aging” (Seniors and Healthy Aging Secretariat, n.d.). To date, 100 communities have joined the Initiative, representing over 80% of the population of the province.
