Welcome new readers!

As a result of the tremendous community response to our Forum “Primary Care for Older Adults: An Urgent Need”, there are a couple of hundred new readers signed up to learn about how the Seniors Health Innovations Hub (SHIH) is “engaging aging in central Ottawa”.

As a refresher for many and to bring the newcomers up to date: the SHIH is a grassroots volunteer organization of older adults. We are a catalyst for community innovations and collaborate with service providers, experts, academia governments and community organizations.

Today’s Update covers three of our four teams. We will focus first on our exciting vision for next stage housing for older adults as there is a time critical event on Tuesday, June 24. As well, you will read about a Technology request and the link to the Primary Care Forum webpage. Happy reading!

Housing Update

Housing and primary care have vied for focus since the beginning of our ‘aging in place’ efforts five years ago. We conducted community ‘surveys’ and learned that many in our community were desperate for primary care before the issue became every day news.

Housing was equally an issue. We know that many older adults in central Ottawa want to remain where they are but realize that they may need to move when the household tasks become too much or an unforeseen health issue arises. When we asked what they wanted if backed into that corner, the responses were unsurprising. Most people want to live in a community, perhaps with medical amenities, and space for socializing and opportunities for cherished hobbies like gardening, wood working and fitness. For some, affordability is a major driver while, for others, the proximity to shopping and services was paramount.

Imagine our excitement when we learned that the stars are aligning and that there is a very real possibility that housing could be provided in our community that not only meets those criteria, but could also be big enough to address other community needs like that of students and adults with disabilities.

That is what has inspired the Village Canada (VC) group to develop the vision of a large (several acres are available), Canadian-built, non-profit Village. It will reflect Canadian society: multi-generational, mixed income and inclusive. The complex could bring all the services required to age in place to the residents, regardless of their level of care need.

Presently there are fourteen service agencies, community associations and seniors’ organizations, coming together to develop the seniors intergenerational Village at 875 Heron Rd (the Data Centre property behind the RA Centre). That location is optimal for a number of reasons:

1. The RA Centre is planning for the future and among its visions is offering a number of services (fitness, healthcare, community support) to older adults.
2. The Billing’s Bridge mall and transit lines are close and easily accessed.
3. A footbridge across the Rideau River connects Carleton University with Confederation Heights, through Vincent Massey Park.

Our St. Patrick’s Day Update brought SHIH readers details about the plans for the complex. For those who didn’t receive that update, we encourage you to become familiar with it as we have not repeated the content here.

Since March 2025, there have been a couple of very encouraging signals. In the lead up to the federal election this spring, Ottawa Centre candidate Yasir Naqvi added our VC proposal to his platform and has committed to meet with us later this month. His riding has been redrawn since the previous election and now includes the Confederation Heights property.

Prime Minister Mark Carney, in both his pre-election promises and subsequently, has made it clear that Canadian infrastructure building will include affordable housing on federal lands.

If our effort appeals to you, you could support us by attending a consultation on Tuesday, June 24 being hosted by Canada Lands Company. If you scroll down on this link you will find the information about the history of the project and familiarize you with the location and potential. We need to convince Canada Lands Company that our vision for a seniors’ intergenerational village should be included in the master
plan and be located on the Data Centre property.

To register for the free event, this link will bring you to Eventbrite for the noon – 3 p.m. session. This link allows you to register for the 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. session.

Another avenue to demonstrate support for VC is to Contact Us on our website or write to us directly at SHIH Gmail.

We look forward to hearing from you, and, if applicable, your business or organization, about creating a community space to live a long and healthy life in central Ottawa.

Technology update

Carleton University is looking for volunteers for a study “Connecting Drivers with Advanced Driver Assistance Technology to Optimize Safety: The CONNECT project”. In fact, there are two (2) subset studies: one for (i) mature drivers and the other for (ii) novice drivers. Both studies involve six sessions between May and October 2025. All participants must have normal or ‘corrected to normal’ visions and hearing. Please do not signup for this study if you have a known history of nausea or motion sickness in real or virtual moving vehicles.

Participants in the mature driver group study must be 65 years or older and have a G2 or higher vehicle license.

Participants in the novice driver group study must have a G2 license or higher AND 5 years or less years experience driving.

To learn more and to contact Carleton University, please read the appropriate document for more details.

Please do forward this information to other who may be interested.

Primary Care Forum

The Forum webpage will be updated with the recording and presentations within the next few days. We encourage all SHIH subscribers to take a look at the scope of the materials presented even if you did not attend.

If you have questions / comments please email them to SHIH Gmail.