Ageism in Canada: What It Looks Like and How to Stop It
There is one form of discrimination almost every Canadian will eventually experience, and most of us are helping it along without realizing it. It is ageism, and Canada is running out of time to ignore it. Within the next year Canada officially becomes a super-aged nation, meaning more than one in five Canadians will be over the age of 65.
Ageism is the discrimination people apologize for the least, largely because most of the time they do not notice they are doing it. The damage is still real. It changes how older adults are treated, and eventually it changes how they see themselves.
What is ageism?
The World Health Organization, whose definition the Government of Canada uses, describes ageism as the stereotypes we hold, the prejudice we feel and the discrimination we act on, directed at people because of their age. It applies to how we treat others and to how we treat ourselves.
Ageism shows up in jokes and greeting cards, in hiring decisions, in movies and television, in advertising, in medical appointments and in ordinary conversation. It is rarely hostile. Most of it is well meant, which is exactly what makes it so persistent.
How common is ageism in Canada?
More common than Canadians think. The National Institute on Ageing surveyed 6,001 Canadians aged 50 and older in 2025 and found that 70 per cent had experienced at least one form of everyday ageism in the previous year. That figure has barely moved since 2023.
But only 12 per cent said they had been directly discriminated against because of their age. That gap is the heart of the problem. Older Canadians are absorbing ageist treatment constantly, but they often do not name it as ageism until someone hands them a list and asks.
Canadians as a whole underestimate the problem badly. In a 2024 Ipsos survey for the Canadian Coalition Against Ageism, the average Canadian guessed that about 10 per cent of people hold ageist attitudes. The WHO puts the global figure closer to 50 per cent. Only 13 per cent of Canadians estimated it accurately.
The same survey found the blind spot in sharp relief. Fifty-five per cent of Canadians agreed that ageism is common. Only 24 per cent admitted to behaving in an ageist way themselves.
Where ageism shows up in everyday Canadian life
In how we speak to older adults
Think about how some people talk to seniors. Slower. Louder. Higher pitched. Simpler words. It is the same voice they would use with a child, and they might round it off by calling the person "cute" or "adorable." This is called elderspeak.
The person speaking almost always means well. But elderspeak sends a message anyway, and the message is that the person in front of them is less capable, less sharp and not quite worth addressing as an equal.
Canadians over 50 report exactly this. Roughly one in four say people insist on helping them with things they can manage perfectly well on their own. Just over one in five say people assume they have trouble hearing or seeing. One in five say people assume they have trouble remembering or understanding things. And 22 per cent say people assume they do not do anything important or valuable.
Federal research has documented the same pattern inside health care settings, where patronizing speech from care providers has been linked to lower self esteem, social withdrawal and depression in older patients. In long term care residents living with dementia, it has been shown to increase resistance to care.
At work
Age is the single most reported form of hiring and workplace discrimination in Canada. A 2024 Pollara survey of 1,500 Canadian adults found that among those who reported negative effects from discrimination at work or during a job search, age outranked every other ground, including racialized status, gender identity and disability.
An older worker might be passed over for promotion, nudged toward early retirement, or simply never called back. They may be assumed to resist change or to struggle with new technology. Federal research reviewing the international evidence found that employers consistently offer less training to workers over 50, and that older women, older immigrants and older racialized workers face the steepest barriers of all.
The cost is not only personal. Canada's Advisory Council on Economic Growth estimated that closing the gap between Canada's labour force participation rate after age 55 and that of the best performing countries would add roughly $56 billion to Canadian GDP.
In health care
Ageism in a clinical setting can be dangerous. When a provider writes off pain, fatigue, low mood or memory changes as an inevitable part of getting older, real conditions go undiagnosed and untreated. Federal research has flagged this directly, noting that genuine medical problems such as heart disease are under-investigated in older patients because the symptoms get filed under aging. The National Institute on Ageing points to the same effect in dementia care, where ageist assumptions contribute to missed or inadequate diagnoses.
In media, advertising and now artificial intelligence
Older adults appear rarely in Canadian media, and when they do they are often reduced to ailments and loneliness. Three in ten Canadians over 50 say they regularly encounter messages suggesting that aging is unattractive or undesirable. Nearly half say they see jokes about old age.
There is a newer front. One in four older Canadians report being assumed incapable of handling technology, even though the overwhelming majority use the internet regularly. As artificial intelligence takes over more of how Canadians access information, health care and government services, researchers have found that AI chatbots readily reproduce ageist assumptions. Without deliberate guardrails, a decades old bias gets baked into the tools everyone will be using.
Ageism does not land on everyone equally
The National Institute on Ageing scores everyday ageism on a 100 point index. The national average in 2025 was 26.2. Canadians aged 80 and over scored 30.7. Those in fair or poor health scored 31.0, compared with 22.1 for those in excellent or very good health. Those struggling financially scored 32.4, nearly ten points above Canadians who felt financially secure.
In other words, the Canadians least equipped to absorb it get the most of it. When ageism overlaps with racism, sexism, ableism or poverty, each bias sharpens the others.
Why ageism harms everyone, including the people doing it
Researcher Todd Nelson described ageism as prejudice against our feared future self, and that framing explains a lot. Every stereotype about older adults is a stereotype Canadians are quietly filing away about their own future.
There is evidence this matters. Yale researcher Becca Levy followed 660 adults aged 50 and older for more than two decades and found that those who held more positive views of their own aging lived about 7.5 years longer than those who held negative views. The advantage held even after accounting for age, gender, socioeconomic status, loneliness and functional health.
Canadian attitudes are moving the wrong way. Positive feelings about aging among Canadians over 50 fell from 62 per cent in 2024 to 57 per cent in 2025, the steepest one-year drop since the National Institute on Ageing began tracking it. And when older Canadians were asked how they think society sees them, only 13 per cent said older adults are generally respected and valued. Forty-seven per cent said they are sometimes overlooked or dismissed. Sixteen per cent said they are often seen as a burden.
How to push back against ageism
Fighting ageism starts with small choices anyone can make.
Watch the language.
Talking to an older adult more slowly, more simply or more loudly is unnecessary unless they ask for it. Think twice before making age-based jokes or reaching for "senior moment." These normalize the idea that aging is something to be mocked or pitied.
Hire and promote across generations.
Consider older candidates alongside younger ones in hiring, training and team building. Multigenerational teams are not a favour to older workers. They measurably benefit the whole organization.
Engage, do not manage.
Talk to older adults because they have perspectives and experience worth hearing, not because you assume they need help. Ask before assisting.
Check your own assumptions about getting older.
Self-ageism is real. Nearly a third of Canadians report internalizing negative stereotypes about their own aging, and 42 per cent say they feel anxious about it. Given what the research says about the link between age beliefs and health, this is worth taking seriously.
Say something.
Ageism survives on silence. Canadians condemn racism and sexism openly, but the federal government's own research describes ageism as the one form of discrimination still widely treated as acceptable.
Frequently asked questions
What is an example of ageism?
Common examples include speaking to an older adult in a slow, loud, simplified voice, assuming they cannot use technology, passing them over for a promotion because of their age, or dismissing a medical symptom as a normal part of aging.
Is ageism illegal in Canada?
Age is a protected ground under the Canadian Human Rights Act and under every provincial and territorial human rights code. Discrimination on the basis of age in employment, housing and services is prohibited. Much of the ageism Canadians experience day to day, however, is social rather than legal, and no law addresses it.
How many Canadians experience ageism?
Seventy per cent of Canadians aged 50 and older reported experiencing at least one form of everyday ageism in 2025, according to the National Institute on Ageing.
What is elderspeak?
Elderspeak is a patronizing style of speech used with older adults that features slower speech, exaggerated intonation, raised pitch and volume, simplified vocabulary and terms like "sweetie" or "dear." Research links it to lower self esteem, social withdrawal and, among people living with dementia, increased resistance to care.
Does ageism affect health?
Research connects ageist treatment and negative beliefs about aging to poorer physical and mental health outcomes, missed diagnoses and reduced willingness to seek treatment.
We are all aging
Ageism is the one prejudice with a waiting list that includes everybody. Every Canadian who lives long enough joins the group being dismissed, talked down to and quietly written off.
Building a country that treats older people with dignity is not charity directed at someone else. It is construction work on the world all of us are going to live in.
