Backgrounder – New Horizons for Seniors Program

The New Horizons for Seniors Program (NHSP) is a federal grants and contributions program whose goal is to enhance seniors’ social inclusion and ensure they can benefit from, and contribute to, the quality of life in their communities.

The objectives of the NHSP are to:

• promote volunteerism among seniors and other generations;
• engage seniors in the community through the mentoring of others;
• expand awareness of elder abuse, including financial abuse;
• support the social participation and inclusion of seniors; and 
• provide capital assistance for new and existing community projects and programs for seniors. 

Since 2004, the NHSP has funded over 40,000 local projects and broader-reaching projects in hundreds of communities across Canada with the Government of Canada investing more than $850 million. Program funding supports community-based projects and pan-Canadian projects.

NHSP pan-Canadian projects

The NHSP’s pan-Canadian stream funds multi-year projects that use collaborative and innovative approaches to build community capacity and increase seniors’ social inclusion. This stream provides funding of up to $5 million for projects with a duration of up to five years.

The most recent NHSP call for concepts (CFC) for pan-Canadian projects ran from October 4, 2023, to November 15, 2023, and will provide up to $61.9 million for the selected concepts. The call focused on projects that would increase social inclusion among vulnerable seniors through collaborative and innovative approaches.

The objective of this CFC was to invite eligible organizations to submit an application that broadly describes a concept for a collective impact initiative that would measurably increase the social inclusion of vulnerable seniors.

More specifically, this process aimed to:

• build the collective capacity of organizations to recognize and address barriers to social inclusion faced by vulnerable seniors;
• provide access to information, programs and services for vulnerable seniors to enhance their social inclusion in their communities;
• support service to seniors as part of action research to better understand effective approaches for increasing the level of social inclusion of vulnerable seniors in their communities;
• develop innovative approaches to engage and retain senior volunteers to improve their social inclusion in their communities; and
• address systemic barriers that contribute to the social isolation of vulnerable seniors.

The NHSP pan-Canadian CFC is a two-step application process. In the first step, interested organizations had to submit a concept for a proposed collective impact initiative focused on the social inclusion of vulnerable seniors. Twenty successful applicants were then invited to develop a full proposal as part of the second stage.

Selected organizations are eligible to receive between $1 million and $5 million over four to five years for projects that create a significant impact in communities by using collaborative and innovative approaches to increase social inclusion among vulnerable seniors.

For more information, visit Funding: New Horizons for Seniors Program – Pan-Canadian projects.

Community-based projects

Community-based project funding supports activities in which seniors are socially engaged, connected and actively involved. Seniors lead and inspire projects to make a difference in the lives of others and in their communities. Organizations are eligible to receive up to $25,000 in grant funding.

As part of the 2024–25 NHSP community-based call for proposals, organizations were encouraged to apply for funding that supports the national priorities for this cycle:

Priority 1: Supporting healthy aging, which includes:

• addressing social isolation, including through supporting seniors’ digital literacy;
• addressing ageism; and
• supporting mental health and seniors living with dementia.

Priority 2: Preventing senior abuse, which includes:

• providing measures to reduce crimes and harm against seniors, including elder abuse; and
• developing educational material to prevent unscrupulous practices, financial fraud and scams from happening to seniors.

Priority 3: Celebrating diversity and promoting inclusion, which includes:

• promoting intergenerational mentoring and engagement;
• advancing reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples and helping to secure a better quality of life for Indigenous seniors; and
• collaborating with diverse communities, notably by serving members of the following vulnerable groups: low-income seniors, Indigenous Peoples, members of 2SLGBTQI+ communities, members of official language minority communities, seniors who primarily speak languages other than English or French, members of racialized and newcomer groups, persons with disabilities, veterans and seniors living in rural or remote areas.

Priority 4: Supporting financial security, which includes:

• helping seniors navigate and access government services and benefits and providing support to file their taxes; and
• supporting the financial empowerment of seniors.

For more information, visit About the New Horizons for Seniors Program – Community-based projects.

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