Age-Friendly Community Capacity Building

Age-Friendly Community Capacity Building:  Empowering communities to support older adults as they age within their community by creating or renewing Age-Friendly action plans.

Age-Friendly Communities were originally established by the World Health Organization and later adopted by the Government of Alberta. These communities work through three key milestones to ensure that their municipality is accessible and supportive of older adults aging within their community. The three milestones are establishing a Committee, doing assessment of local accessibility and support for older adults, and an action plan that directly reflects the needs within your community. Communities have an optional fourth milestone of passing a municipal Age-Friendly resolution; it is not a requirement for this grant but recommended and required for Provincial Age-Friendly Recognition.

There are 8 focus areas with the work for Age-Friendly communities:

• Communication and information 
• Social Participation
• Transportation and Mobility
• Outdoor Spaces and Public Places
• Housing and Aging in Place
• Civic Participation, Volunteerism, and Employment
• Respect and Community Belonging
• Community Support and Health Services 

This initiative is made possible by the Age-Friendly Grant, with funding provided by the Government of Alberta through the Ministry of Assisted Living and Social Services. The Rural Development Network serves as the primary contact for all grant-related inquiries as well as provides coaching services to those communities that are successful with funding.

Grant application and grant guide are available below; this includes eligibility, application details, and overview of funding guidelines. If you have specific questions regarding this grant opportunity please contact Aleesha Cabay at: Aleeshac@ruraldevelopment.ca.

Please download and save the application and supporting documents to your computer. Once completed, please email the application and all supporting documents to Aleeshac@ruraldevelopment.ca.

• Call Opens: October 23, 2026

• Call Closes: November 20, 2026 at 4:30 PM MT

• The maximum funding you can apply for is $25,000 a year for 3 years for a total of $75,000

Application Window	Decision on Applications	Project Timeline
October 23rd 2026 to November 20, 2026	January 11, 2027	February 2027-March 2029

Funded by the Government of Alberta