Humber College has established the Aging in Community Education and Research Hub (ACER) that’s conducting research to create and implement solutions that strengthen community-based supports to empower older adults to remain engaged and connected to their communities.

Ginger Grant, dean, Research and Innovation at Humber College, said Canada has a talent shortage and an untapped resource – older adults. If we want to grow the economy, this is a demographic that’s often willing to work, she said. Perhaps not full-time, but companies that are offering some flexibility can access this often-overlooked talent pool.

Grant said their research will explore this as well as look at aging in place as she notes most people want to remain in their homes as they enter their golden years. Grant said ACER’s research will focus on exploring previously unexplored areas and they will work closely with older adults to get their input and to create solutions that are relevant to them.

ACER is guided by six core values. These are:

• Research is connected to and enhances academic programs at Humber and partnerships with the College’s Centres of Innovation;

• The research supports opportunities that create a culture of innovation and learning for Humber students, staff and faculty;

• Older adults are involved in guiding research that is important to them and, to the extent possible, participate in research projects as project leads or research assistants;

• Research is cross disciplinary resulting in as many perspectives as possible contributing to the research;

• ACER works collaboratively to build partnerships and to create solutions with business, industry, government, community organizations and other post-secondary institutions;

• All research conducted by ACER takes equity, diversity and inclusion into account.

Bradley Schurman is an expert demographic futurist and the author of The Super Age: Decoding Our Demographic Destiny. On October 4 and at the invitation of Humber Office of Research Innovation, he will present the free talk Under Pressure: Disruptive Demographic Change, its Impact on Labor Markets and the Clear Path Forward at the Barrett Centre for Technology Innovation. On October 5, he will take part in a fireside chat organized by the Empire Club of Canada and sponsored by Humber College called Demographic Disruption – How an Aging Society Will Change Everything.

Schurman notes that, in 2016, there was a significant demographic shift in this country where adults aged 65 and older outnumbered children aged 14 and younger. Embracing this massive change can create economic opportunities and other benefits while ignoring it can be detrimental.

People are living longer than ever before and, with the challenging economic conditions, it’s not as easy to retire at 65 and live in relative comfort for decades, said Schurman. Many older employees are being pushed out from their careers, either from bias or because they earn too much, and that isn’t beneficial in the long term.

“These older workers have experience, know how to work and, in many cases, want to work,” said Schurman. “They’re also remarkably loyal.”

Schurman said, when older workers aren’t forced to retire before they’re ready, it can have benefits both to the company and the individual. He said older workers typically have better financial security, stay engaged and active in their communities and it also increases their access to money and the ability to spend it, which helps grow the economy.

ACER is partly funded by the Mobilize Applied Research Program grant, which is funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.