Description of Organization
REALPAC (Real Property Association of Canada) is a national industry association representing leading organizations in Canada’s commercial real estate sector. Its members include developers, property owners, investors, asset managers, pension funds, and other organizations involved in building, managing, and investing in real estate. REALPAC supports the industry through research, advocacy, professional education, and opportunities for collaboration on issues affecting real estate and the built environment.
Problem area
As Canada’s population ages, communities are increasingly challenged to ensure that older adults can access appropriate housing and the everyday services needed to support independent, healthy aging. However, the extent to which seniors housing is located within convenient 15-minute access to health care, groceries, transit, parks, recreation, and other essential amenities varies significantly across communities. This project will examine how well selected Canadian communities currently support aging in place, identify gaps in access, and highlight opportunities to strengthen age-friendly planning and service provision.
Main objectives
Students could select a small number of communities and:
- Compare current and projected growth in the population aged 65+.
- Identify the location of existing seniors housing.
- Assess whether seniors housing is within 15 minutes of key services such as health care, groceries, transit, parks and recreation.
- Identify gaps in access and opportunities to improve age-friendly planning.
- Develop a simple score or map comparing how well each community supports aging in place.
Scope of work
- Conduct a literature and policy review on aging in place, seniors housing, and 15-minute communities.
- Select a small number of Canadian communities for comparison.
- Gather and analyze current and projected demographic data for populations aged 65+.
- Map the location of seniors housing and key everyday services such as health care, groceries, transit, parks, and recreation.
- Assess accessibility and proximity between seniors housing and essential services.
- Identify gaps, strengths, and opportunities for more age-friendly community planning.
- Develop a comparative map, score, or assessment framework and summarize key findings and recommendations.
Deliverables
- Report
- Presentation
Frequency
- To be determined upon discussion with the project team.
Skills and training required
- Data collection and interpretation
- Policy and literature review
- Research methods and comparative analysis
- Report writing, visualization, and presentation skills
- Demographic and population analysis
Resources required
- Census, demographic, and population projection data
- Basic data analysis, visualization, and presentation software
NDA or a commercialization agreement for this project?
Yes