Looking Back, Moving Forward: Reflections from My Time Leading the NIA

Dear colleagues and friends,

I’ve often reflected on what it means to age well, not just in theory, but in practice. My personal hero of ageing is Pete Seeger, the legendary American folk singer who, in addition to staying healthy by chopping wood well into his 80s, famously distilled his advice for actions that could “save the human race” to just one: participation. Pete’s message that attentiveness to one’s community is core to a life well-lived has resonated throughout my year as Interim Executive Director of the National Institute on Ageing. At a moment when Canada is navigating the realities of becoming a “super-aged” society, appreciating and encouraging the fullest expression of older adults as active participants and contributors to our society has never been more important.  

Older adults’ presumed role as mentors and experience holders can only be realized if they are respected and encouraged to contribute in the workplace and in the community. Unfortunately, 1 in 5 Canadians over 50 told our Ageing in Canada Survey that other people regularly assume they do not have anything “important or valuable” to contribute to society. This and other misguided forms of everyday ageism are preventing an ageing society from realizing the myriad societal benefits of a long life, what Dr. Satya Brink (and others, including the IMF) have called the “longevity dividend”. 

Which is why this year at the NIA has been so meaningful to me. Its core mission of improving the lives of older Canadians and the systems that support them plays out in work that is practical at the individual level and transformative across the country when policy change is realized. 

I’ve been inspired by tools that make the true costs of ageing understandable to people in a realistic and non-commercial way; by efforts to expand access to workplace pensions; by a national campaign to prevent dementia through everyday habits that remind us of the small things we already know we should be doing — like eating well, moving our bodies, staying socially connected — to keep our brains healthy; by models that are co-locating seniors’ residences with daycares to bookend generations; and by the determined work of community organizations across the country that help people age in the right place.

If we are to fully realize the promise of longer lives in Canada, it will require all of us to actively contribute to building a society where older adults are valued, included and supported to participate fully. This is what Pete identified: that participation in social and civic spaces is not only good for our cognitive health as we grow older, but also critical to the health of Canada’s democracy. Democratic resilience will continue to be the focus of my work at the Dais, the public policy and leadership think tank that I am returning to in May.  

I am deeply grateful to the NIA team and to our many partners for their commitment to this work and for supporting me this past year. Special thanks to returning Executive Director Alyssa Brierley for trusting me with the incredible foundation she has built. The NIA is in exceptionally strong hands. I leave this role with confidence in the path ahead and with the belief that, together, we can ensure that longer lives in Canada are not only lived, but lived well.

Mark Hazelden
Interim Executive Director
National Institute on Ageing