DEMOGRAPHIC CHALLENGES IS ONTARIO READY FOR THE SILVER TSUNAMI? S tatistics Canada recently announced that seniors of fcially outnumbered young Canadians. Despite being foreseen decades earlier, the news still made headlines across the country. In 1996, David Foot brought demographic aging to the forefront of public consciousness with his best selling book Boom, Bust & Echo. Through dozens of examples he demonstrated the monumental societal infuence of Canada’s baby boom generation on everything from the housing market to the popularity of tennis. Since then journalists and academics have spilled considerable ink debating the opportunities and ramifcations of this massive demographic shift. As the older population grows and becomes increasingly dependent on a shrinking working population, many are concerned with the viability of our economic and healthcare systems. The aging of the Canadian population has called into question the preparedness of the national, provincial and local governments to support the SUMMARY For the frst time ever, Canadian seniors outnumber youth. In this article we examine the extent of current, and projected, aging in Ontario’s municipalities. We assess if, and to what extent, local municipal governments have begun to plan for older adults. We fnd that senior dependency is expected to rise in every Ontario municipality. Small municipalities are particularly vulnerable as they are expected to experience the most severe aging and are least likely to have initiated community age-friendly planning. RÉSUMÉ Pour la première fois dans l’histoire du Canada, les aînés sont plus nombreux que les jeunes. Dans cet article, nous examinons l’étendue du vieillissement actuel et prévu dans les municipalités de l’Ontario. Nous évaluons si, et dans quelle mesure, les municipalités ont commencé à planifer en prévision de la population vieillissante. Nous constatons que le nombre d’aînés à charge devrait augmenter dans toutes les municipalités de l’Ontario. Les petites municipalités sont particulièrement vulnérables, car elles devraient enregistrer un pourcentage de vieillissement important, et elles n’ont probablement pas lancé de processus de planifcation de collectivités favorables aux aînés. BY MAXWELL D. HARTT AND SAMANTHA BIGLIERI PLAN CANADA | FALL • AUTOMNE 2017 12