Step One

When your community is looking to start on the path to become an Age Friendly Community the first step in New Brunswick is to secure support from the Local Government.

Age-friendly recognition status is granted to a community. It's critical that the community and its citizens be engaged in the strategy from the outset. The municipal council is the official legal representative of the community. This is why the starting point for the NB age-friendly recognition process is to engage the council and have it pass a resolution supporting the initiative. It is recommended that they appoint a member of Council to sit on the age-friendly community committee to act as a liaison between both parties.

From here the committee itself will take on a leadership role.

Step Two

 The next step is to establish an age-friendly community committee and develop a terms of reference for the committee. It is important that the committee be made up of a diverse group of volunteers from within the community. You should seek participants that represent a broad cross section of the community. This should include older adults, other community members, representatives of various community organizations, seniors' groups, local businesses, and other potential partners. Be sure to include representation for those who are isolated or whose perspectives are often not considered.

In addition, it is important to include either a municipal councilor, or a staff member assigned responsibility to act as a liaison for the age-friendly community initiative. In some instances, communities have included both.

In the terms of reference, be sure to include the affiliation of each member and their contact email. That is, seniors, representative of a specific non-profit community organization, etc.

Be sure that the AFC committee selects a chair to lead the meetings and that they make regular presentations to ensure the citizen's elected officials are aware of the steps being taken and the outcomes along the journey. 

Step Three

Complete a Community Needs Assessment. This step will require input to be gathered from citizens of the community to figure out the needs within the eight domains for an age-friendly community. Different ways to gather this information could include surveys, focus groups, or other sessions.

The community assessment should include a detailed inventory of both infrastructure and social supports. The assessment will help identify what services currently exist in the community to support seniors. Comparing what exists and what citizens say is needed for them to remain in their community as they age will determine the gaps in programs and services. This will allow the community to consider how to fill the gaps to be able to be an age-friendly community and address the needs of their aging citizens. Leveraging what currently exists in the community, to support older adults and caregivers, will be helpful when developing the action plan. The community assessment should say who was engaged and how they were engaged; meetings, focus groups, online surveys, printed surveys, community events, etc.). Also, include the dates for the engagement activities and a copy of the questions used.

Step Four

Developing an action plan based on the information collected in the age-friendly community assessment that responds to the needs identified. 

The plan must address initiatives across the eight domains and respond directly to the needs identified by older adults through the community assessment process. It is recommended that the plan include no more than four to five priority actions to be implemented over a three-year period, and that it clearly outlines the following information:

1. The age-friendly domain being addressed 

2. The action to be completed (should be specific and be action oriented. Generally, an action statement starts with a verb. Example, "Increase the number of benches along the walking trail.") 

3. Who will be responsible to lead the implementation of the action (the community should leverage partners in the implementation of some of the actions)

 4. What resources may be needed (human, technical, partners, financial) 

5. When each action will be implemented (timeline)

It is important that the action plan be available to the public. You should include the plan on the community's website. You may also want to update the plan regularly so you can be transparent about what is being done. 

To be recognized for their age-friendly efforts, communities must complete a series of steps that show their commitment to age-friendly principles through engagement and action. Each step will help communities increase awareness and gather support from partners such as citizens, local agencies, non-government organizations and local businesses.

Applications are accepted throughout the year. The completed application including the required documents is emailed to seniors@gnb.ca

Please make sure you include these with your application:

• Age-friendly council resolution, including date passed.
• Age-friendly committee terms of reference.
• Age-friendly community assessment including questions used in the citizen data collection.
• Age-friendly committee action plan.
• One-page action summary highlighting community steps and initiatives taken to achieve age-friendly status and any actions completed thus far. 

Step Six