The City of PG has netted a $20,000 Age-Friendly grant from the province.
28 BC communities received the grants, which will be put toward supporting strategies to help seniors stay mobile, active, and social- something the City’s Accessibility Advisory Committee is already working on.
City Planner Hillary Morgan says the Age Friendly plan looks at several key areas.
“Outdoor spaces and buildings, transportation, housing, respect and inclusion, social participation, employment… We’ll address these components through the plan.”
Which boils down to more specific things around the City.
“Getting more information out there about trails and pathway systems we have that are accessible for somebody in a wheelchair, as well as any sort of improvement to pedestrian networks. It’s always really high-priority.”
On top of this, a multi-family housing incentive- which would require 50% of new units to be adaptable- is already on the table at City Hall.
“Adaptable housing is a level of accessibility where the house is originally planned and constructed to accommodate somebody as their mobility changes. So the house is built with wider doors, hallways, with the kitchen and bedroom on the main floor.”
This grant program is a partnership between the B.C. government and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM).