A collaboration between AGE-WELL and the National Research Council of Canada’s Aging in Place Challenge program
Canada’s AgeTech sector has rapidly advanced over the past decade, producing a growing base of knowledge and a range of innovations and tools to support healthy aging. Making these outputs easier to find, access, and apply will accelerate technology adoption and create broader impact.
The National Research Council of Canada’s (NRC) Aging in Place Challenge program and AGE-WELL are co-creating an AgeTech knowledge and action platform for policymakers, innovators, care providers, researchers, older adults, caregivers and others. The platform will serve as a centralized, user-friendly online source providing curated actionable knowledge from Canadian research, including guidelines, toolkits, training resources, policy briefs, and implementation supports to enable adoption.
For example, policymakers can access insights from other jurisdictions to support the adoption and scaling of technologies, while senior living operators can access implementation readiness tools.
“There has been a huge proliferation of knowledge, products and tools in the Canadian AgeTech sector, and this project provides an opportunity to build a sustainable infrastructure to support the spread and scale of AgeTech implementation and impact,” says Bridgette Murphy, CEO of AGE-WELL, Canada’s technology and aging network. “Of particular significance is the co-creation approach, which is critical to ensuring the platform genuinely meets the needs of the key stakeholders.
“AGE-WELL is very pleased to partner with the NRC’s Aging in Place Challenge program to build the platform and to continue stewarding the infrastructure so it remains relevant to users and delivers long-term impact on healthy aging in Canada.”
Patricia Debergue, Program Director of the NRC’s Aging in Place Challenge program, underscores the importance of co-creating the knowledge and action platform as the Aging in Place Challenge program approaches the planned conclusion of its 7-year term in 2028.
“The program has resulted in a significant portfolio of projects and technology solutions to support healthy aging, each with its own knowledge mobilization plan. This initiative enables us to consolidate that knowledge and make it more accessible to older adults, caregivers and the broader AgeTech community.
“We are collaborating with AGE-WELL, given their position and reputation as a national network that has produced work in this domain for more than a decade and will continue beyond the life of our program. This platform will have the power to unite the AgeTech ecosystem and advance technology adoption at both the individual and system levels.”
During the initial project period – from 2026 to 2028 – there will be a strong focus on working with older adults, caregivers, policymakers, innovators and industry partners to ensure the platform is intuitive for different users; identify the knowledge and tools needed to support technology adoption; curate and create content that translates knowledge into action; and determine engagement approaches to support long-term sustainability.
While the 2-year project will initially focus on knowledge outputs from the NRC’s Aging in Place Challenge program and AGE-WELL, the long-term vision is to expand the platform’s reach by collaborating with AGE-WELL’s partners and others to incorporate their AgeTech implementation and adoption tools into the shared infrastructure.
Members of the AgeTech community are invited to express their interest in future participation in the knowledge and action platform. Sign up for future virtual journey-mapping workshops at the link below. To learn more, please contact partnerships@agewell-nce.ca.