Developing policies and procedures with a seniors perspective

More than 26,000 people over the age of 59 live in Toronto Community Housing’s seniors-designated and mixed properties. More seniors will be living in mixed buildings as our tenant population ages across the city.

Our seniors population is expected to grow by 35% in 2020. How can we improve service for senior tenants now and in the future? This is the question that members of the Seniors Lens Advisory Committee are discussing with senior tenants and staff.

The Seniors Lens Advisory Committee, formed in 2010, is a group of tenants over 59 years of age who live in Toronto Community Housing and meet to identify barriers that senior tenants face and discuss possible solutions.

In their time together, they helped create the first draft of a tool called the Seniors Lens Checklist.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Seniors Lens Advisory Committee, please contact Beatriz.Tabak@torontohousing.ca

About the Seniors Lens

What is the Seniors Lens?

The Seniors Lens is a tool to guide the development and review of policies, procedures programs and services from the perspectives of a diverse senior tenant population.

It is a checklist that allows us to stop, think, and have critical conversations about the service we provide to seniors in five focus areas, including: Safety, Outreach, Communication, Customer Service and Barriers.

Who does “senior” tenant mean?

A tenant who is 59 years and older is considered a “senior” at Toronto Community Housing. There are 26,000 senior tenants living in Toronto Community Housing properties across the city.

Why use a Seniors Lens?

The purpose of using a Seniors Lens is to support Toronto Community Housing in making decisions that impact the health and well being of tenants who may be at risk for long-term or other specialized care. 

Using this lens to review current and future policies, programs and services, means we may uncover gaps and discover innovative ways to provide relevant support to older adults and vulnerable tenants, with the support of our community partners.

What roles do community partners and agencies play?

As a landlord, we recognize that we are not experts in long-term or specialized care. Rather, our role in using this tool will be to identify issues and explore opportunities that arise out of having these continuous discussions that put tenants needs first.

We look to our community partners and agencies for their expertise in dealing with tenants who have special needs. On a continuous basis, we will connect with community partners and agencies to discuss how we can work together to address any issues or gaps in service that the Seniors Lens helps us to identify.