Sherbrooke, QC, May 8, 2020 – With physical distancing being a must, it is by videoconference that the Compton-Stanstead MP and Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food announced on Friday over $ 232,000 for community projects specifically dedicated to seniors. The following organizations were granted funds ranging from $ 4,000 to $ 25,000 each, depending on the project.

The Bulwer Golden Age Club of East Angus, the Community Center of St-Gérard, the North Hatley Curling Club, the Fraternity of the Golden Age of Saint-Isidore, the Golden Age Club of Chartierville, the Club FADOQ of Sawyerville, the Haut-Saint-François Senior Citizens Table, the Lennoxville Curling Club, the Beaulieu Farmers Circle, as well as the Coaticook and Rock Forest Farmers Circles will share this envelope. More information on these projects is provided in Annex A.

“The New Horizons for Seniors Program will allow us to renovate our community center, a project that was dear to our seniors and that will allow us to offer a more friendly place that is adapted to their needs,” said Mayor Gérard Duteau of the municipality of Saint-Hérménégilde.

With more than a dozen organizations receiving funding, each in their own way will be able to support seniors in the region. Through this program, the federal government hopes to increase the overall well-being and independence of seniors so that they stay active and remain in touch with each other.
“This money is making a real difference for our seniors. The range of services and activities offered by our local organizations is impressive. In this period of pandemic, it is more important than ever to maintain funding for projects that come from the community,” reminds Marie-Claude Bibeau.

However, regardless of the nature of the approved projects, if desired organizations can now use their funding to provide immediate and essential support to seniors impacted by COVID-19.

“Because seniors are staying safe by isolating at home, we also need to provide new kinds of help. So we’ve provided flexibility for previously approved projects to be modified to meet seniors’ needs during this unprecedented public health crisis,” explains the federal Minister of Seniors, the Honourable Deb Schulte.

Funding recipients who will not or cannot provide programs or services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic will be given more time to conclude their projects. Instead of the usual 12-month period, organizations now have up to two years to finish their projects.

Annex A :List of New Horizons for Seniors Projects Receiving Funding 2020

Quick Facts

• • If infected by COVID-19, Canadians aged 65 and over, and those of all ages with compromised immune systems or underlying medical conditions, are at increased risk of more severe outcomes. Advice for those at risk is available here.
  • Canadians who experience symptoms of COVID-19 should stay home and call the public health authority in their province or territory to inform them and obtain advice on what they should do.
  • Every year, organizations are invited to apply for New Horizons for Seniors Program community-based funding through a call for proposals.
  • Budget 2019 invested an additional $100 million over five years in the New Horizons for Seniors Program.
  • Community-based projects are eligible to receive up to $25,000 in grant funding and, as of 2018, small grants of up to $5,000 are available to organizations that have not received funding within the last five years.
  • Since 2004, the New Horizons for Seniors Program has funded more than 26,300 projects in hundreds of communities across Canada, with a total Government of Canada investment of more than half a billion dollars.
  • As of March 31, 2020, 2,166 projects were funded based on a call for proposals that was launched on May 15, 2019.