Project Overview
Older adults make up a growing share of Ontario’s population, yet laws and policies do not always fully account for how they affect people as they age. These impacts arise not only from laws that explicitly target older adults, but also from general laws and policies that shape access to services, participation in society, and quality of life across the population.
The Law Commission of Ontario’s Older Adults project responds to this gap by examining how law, policy, and practice affect older persons, and by providing practical tools to improve decision-making. The project produced two complementary documents: a Framework for the Law as it Affects Older Adults, and an accompanying Final Report that provides background, analysis, and examples to support its application.
The Framework is designed to help legislators, policy-makers, courts, service providers, advocacy organizations, and both public and private institutions assess the impact of laws, policies, and practices on older adults. Its overarching goal is to promote laws that are more effective, just, accessible, and responsive to the diverse experiences and circumstances of older persons.
The project was developed through extensive research and consultation, including expert advisory input, commissioned research, conferences, stakeholder consultations, and direct engagement with older adults. It was developed alongside the LCO’s related project on the law as it affects persons with disabilities, reflecting the reality that many older adults live with disabilities and experience overlapping legal and policy challenges.
Advisory Committee
The Advisory Committee members were:
- Dr. Jane Barratt – International Federation on Ageing
- Nancy Cooper – Ontario Long Term Care Association
- Professor Brenda Elias – Lakehead University
- Susan Eng – CARP
- Elizabeth Esteves and Katherine Mortimer – Ontario Seniors’ Secretariat
- Professor David Freedman – Queen’s University, Faculty of Law
- David Harvey – Alzheimer’s Society of Ontario
- Margaret Hawthorne – Ontario Older Women’s Network
- Krista James – Canadian Centre for Elder Law
- Professor Gerda Kaegi – Ryerson University, Department of Political Science
- Terri Kay – Ontario Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse
- Professor Nina Kohn – Syracuse University, College of Law
- Penny MacCourt – Canadian Association on Gerontology
- Dr. Lynn McDonald – University of Toronto, Institute for the Life Course and Aging
- Kathryn Pilkington – Ontario Association of Non-Profit Housing and Services for Seniors
- Judith Wahl – Advocacy Centre for the Elderly
Key Recommendations
The LCO made two overarching recommendations aimed at embedding a consistent and principled approach to laws, policies, and practices that affect older adults.
1. Promote broad adoption and use of the Framework
- Recommend that governments, public sector bodies, private actors, legal organizations, advocacy groups, and community organizations adopt and apply the Framework for the Law as it Affects Older Adults when developing, interpreting, implementing, or assessing laws, policies, and practices that may affect older persons.
2. Review the Framework to ensure ongoing relevance
- Recommend that relevant Ontario government ministries, in consultation with older adults and key organizations, review the use and effectiveness of the Framework after seven years to ensure it remains current, meaningful, and responsive to the experiences of older adults.