About

About iGenOttawa

Intergenerational Day Canada started in British Columbia in 2010 to celebrate the value of connections between generations. Since then, more than 100 cities have officially recognized the day.

In 2019, Ottawa proclaimed June 1st as Intergenerational Day for the first time after a small group, comprising Christine Franklin, Nicola Maule, Martha Jeacle and Diane Drouin founded iGenOttawa, and the City accepted their proclamation request.

Given the wonderful community response, iGenOttawa will be promoting the value of intergenerational connections year-round, teaming up with community partners to highlight, encourage and initiate activities that bring different generations together for the benefit of the community

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson with iGenOttawa Co-founders (from right) Diane Drouin, Nicola Maule and Christine Franklin.

Origins

The i2i Intergenerational Society of Canada, based out of British Columbia, was created in 2008 and Intergenerational Day Canada started in 2010 to celebrate the value of connections between generations.

Since then, Sharon MacKenzie, founder of i2i Intergenerational Society (www.intergenerational.ca), has been promoting the “why” and the “how” of building bridges between different generations and encouraging cities to proclaim June 1st as Intergenerational Day. More than 100 cities and 12 provinces and territories have officially recognized Intergenerational Day Canada.

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The Impact

With community support, iGenOttawa seeks to:

Bring awareness of the positive value of relationships between older and younger people;

Encourage organizations, community groups and residents to celebrate Intergenerational Day through activities that bring together people of different ages; and

Promote the value of taking small actions to bridge generations within the community year-round.

Intergenerational connections offer many benefits to the community, including in such areas as health, education, and community safety.

Stereotypes of both young and older people are broken down when they learn about each other.

Isolation is diminished and empathy grows in both directions. This creates a stronger, more age-friendly community.

events

Resources

With thanks after a successful inaugural Intergenerational Day