Canada’s population is rapidly aging. The Globe and Mail’s Aging Well series explores the country’s longevity economy, how people are living healthier and happier lives as they age and how to support older adults. This is the first story from Aging Well.
In her home on a quiet street overlooking Lunenburg’s harbour in Nova Scotia, 102-year-old Isabelle Langille sits in her living room, surrounded by photographs of her life and novels she’s read or plans to still get to.
She is one of the relatively small group of people in the world to reach centenarian status, but she doesn’t think much about that. Mostly because, as she puts it, she still feels like she’s 70 years old. And she acts like it, too.
Ms. Langille, a retired stenographer, still lives independently, with only occasional help to cut her hair or clean the house. She moves nimbly around her home as she points out a wooden model boat her late husband built, their wedding photos and the poofy white dress she wore that day and still keeps.
The seaside town of Lunenburg is known for its strong sense of community.Aly Ambler/The Globe and Mail
She credits her longevity to one thing above all else: “I did a lot of walking in my life.”
That’s no small feat in Lunenburg, a town of about 2,500 people that’s built on steep hills, where a stroll to the local shops or post office can leave your legs burning.
Growing up here, Ms. Langille spent most of her life outside, no matter the weather. Her memories from childhood still come easily; she describes spending winters bobsledding with her brother, and how much she hated school. She was raised on food that came from the land and sea around her: dried codfish, fresh vegetables and fruit in season.
Ms. Langille is a lifelong Lunenburger, the nickname typically given to people who are born and spend their lives in the town. “It’s a beautiful place to live,” she said.
Living as long as Ms. Langille has is something many aspire to. But as medicine and technology have extended lifespans across Canada, the growing interest in longevity isn’t just about adding years – it’s about adding quality of life to those years. And in the last decade, those in pursuit of that goal have looked to communities where centenarians are thriving to find out their secret.
In a 2005 National Geographic story, researcher and reporter Dan Buettner used the term “Blue Zones” to describe regions where research had found people lived longer and healthier than average. His research found that older residents in these places share common traits, such as strong social ties, healthy diets, regular exercise and a clear sense of purpose.
Parksville, B.C., is a town of roughly 13,000 residents, about 46 per cent of whom are 65 years or older.
Taylor Roades/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
Some researchers have since questioned the accuracy of the demographic data used to define these Blue Zones, but the concept has endured.
While there isn’t an area in Canada that Mr. Buettner classified as an official Blue Zone, his research did find pockets in the country where people are living notably long and healthy lives.
Mr. Buettner said data he examined found concentrations of centenarians along Canada’s east coast.
But another example can be found on the other side of the country, in Parksville, B.C., a town of roughly 13,000 residents, about 46 per cent of whom are 65 years or older and nearly 13 per cent 80 or older, according to 2022 census data.
Cynthia Stanhope is 98 years old and still lives independently in her home in Parksville.Taylor Roades/The Globe and Mail
The municipality ranks first in Canada for the highest percentage of older adults, according to data from Toronto Metropolitan University’s Local News Data Hub. And this quiet, temperate town on the shores of the Salish Sea has become a deliberate destination for retirees seeking a community built for aging well.
Whether you’re born in a place like Lunenburg or move somewhere such as Parksville later in life, longevity experts say where you live can matter just as much as genetics.
Mr. Buettner’s advice: “If you want to live longer, don’t try to change your behaviour; change your environment.”
Lunenburgers are ‘a jolly people’
Canadian lifespans have been rising steadily for decades, but dipped during the height of the pandemic. For the first time since then, they’re climbing again: Life expectancy at birth rose from 81.3 years in 2022 to 81.7 in 2023, according to Statistics Canada. Research from McMaster University suggests that by 2050, the average Canadian lifespan may reach 90.
One question has long intrigued researchers: Is longevity shaped more by your genetics, or where you live?
Faune Creaser, president of the South Shore Genealogical Society in Lunenburg, with Jean McKiel, an energetic resident of the town.Aly Ambler/The Globe and Mail
Before the pandemic, Jane Berry, a psychology professor at the University of Richmond in Virginia, brought her students in a Longevity and Happiness course to Lunenburg two times in 2016 and 2017 to interview older residents, to find out why they lived long, healthy lives.
“They ate well, they spent a lot of time outside, they were deeply connected to community and family, which we now know are predictors of longevity,” she said. “It’s a tight-knit community, so people look in on each other and look after each other.”
While those factors feed into the nurture hypothesis, some Lunenburgers say genetics play a greater part. Many locals descend directly from settlers who arrived from Germany in the mid-1700s, lured by British land grants. When farming proved difficult, they turned to fishing and shipbuilding, trades that endured for generations.
“We started out with sturdy stock,” said Faune Creaser, president of the South Shore Genealogical Society in Lunenburg. Those genes, she added, were likely passed down to many of today’s elders, whose parents also lived well into their 90s and 100s.
Garnet Heisler, 82, grew up on an island just off Lunenburg and used to take a dory boat to school starting at age 5. “In the wintertime when it froze over, you walked over the ice,” he said. Both of his parents lived into their 90s.
But even if genes set the stage, the environment still does tell the rest of the story.
Lunenburg moves at a slower pace that seems calibrated for optimal health. There are no traffic lights. Mail isn’t delivered to homes; residents pick it up at the post office, where they exchange greetings and “yarns,” a fisherman’s term for stories.
“They’re a jolly people,” said local historian Ralph Getson.
Most Lunenburgers walk daily and stop to chat along the way. Tourists who complain about the inclines are told “the first hundred years are the hardest,” Mr. Getson said.
Because of the temperate climate, outdoor activities are woven into daily life.
On a misty September morning, Ms. Creaser, 72, and Kelly George, 50, rowed a bright yellow dory across the harbour in perfect rhythm, chatting about gardens and seals bobbing nearby. “It’s invigorating to get on the water in the mornings when the sun comes out,” Ms. Creaser said.
Lunenburg’s cheerfulness is balanced by its history of loss. Fishing has long been the town’s lifeblood, and its heartbreak, due to the dangerous nature of the job. Jane Adams Ritcey, president of the fishing company Adams & Knickle, said that multiple generations fish together – and so a shipwreck can become a loss that reverberates through the community.
Many residents of Lunenburg tend to their own gardens and grow their own food.Aly Ambler/The Globe and Mail
That shared hardship may have fostered a deep sense of connection and purpose, said Dr. Samir Sinha, a geriatrician at Sinai Health and the University Health Network in Toronto. And so the losses, in a roundabout way, may actually prevent further ones. “Strong community and purpose can prevent diseases such as dementia,” he noted.
Earl Bachmann was born in 1938 in nearby Garden Lots and spent most of his life at sea, where his grandfather died. But that loss just encouraged him to be the best version of himself, he said. His advice for living longer is simple: rest when you can, laugh often and stay humble. He worked long shifts on boats but always took a midday nap, or a “kink,” as some Lunenburgers call it. “You need the rest. Everyone needs the rest,” he said.
Many Lunenburg residents tend to their own gardens and have farm-to-table dining sourced right from their backyards. Fish, cabbage and sauerkraut still anchor many local diets, tracing back to Lunenburg’s German roots. On Thursday mornings, the farmers’ market fills the local ice rink with overflowing produce and chatter, and is so popular there’s usually a line out the door.
David Creaser, 91, and Claire Creaser, 88, married nearly 70 years, still live just outside town. Neither is directly related to Faune Creaser, but it’s not uncommon for Lunenburgers to share a last name since many people born in the area tend to stay or return after leaving. One of the couple’s granddaughters, who lives just 15 minutes away, stopped by while they were enjoying a day on the porch. She gave them homemade tomato sauce. “They keep us well,” Ms. Creaser said of their family.
Carol Ross, a 75-year-old dance instructor who has taught for more than three decades at the Parksville Seniors’ Activity and Drop-in Centre, chose the town because of its reputation as an ideal place for retirement.
Taylor Roades/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
If you have nothing to do in Parksville, ‘it’s by choice’
While longevity in Lunenburg usually goes back generations, Parksville, B.C., is an example of a community that attracts older Canadians.
“The Parksville community is deliberate, as opposed to Lunenburg which is natural,” said Dr. Sinha. “They are deliberately moving to the right place for them to age.”
Parksville is a relatively quiet town on Vancouver Island, a region that already has a reputation for a slower pace of life. Temperatures rarely ever drop below zero, and when snow falls here, shovelling it isn’t necessary. It’s one of the first things people name as a reason for moving here from places like Alberta and Ontario.
Many of the seniors in Parksville are members of the Parksville Seniors’ Activity and Drop-in Centre, which organizes community events and has roughly 500 members.
On a Friday morning in late September, the centre was lively with chatter and a weekly line dancing class, where two dozen people worked up a sweat in the main exercise room. Some of the dancers are approaching 90 years old, and they danced in impressive unison with Carol Ross, a 75-year-old dance instructor who has taught for more than three decades.
“Moving is so important for seniors,” said Ms. Ross, who spoke between two of her morning classes. Dancing is one of many regular events put on by the centre, including bridge games, chair exercising and affordable lunches for people on a fixed income.
“All of the variety of these activities help, because it’s mental, it’s social, it’s physical, it’s emotional,” she said.
Like many seniors in Parksville, Ms. Ross has lived all over Western Canada, but she chose this community because of its reputation as an ideal place for retirement.
“I knew this was the place to be if you were a senior, there’s so much going on,” said Ms. Ross.
‘If you’re not busy, it’s by choice, because there’s so much to do, even in the winter,’ says Cheryl Colborne, the president of the seniors’ centre.Taylor Roades/The Globe and Mail
Cheryl Colborne, the president of the seniors’ centre, said the concentration of so many retired folks in Parksville is part of what makes life there so social and lively.
“People are like-minded,” said Ms. Colborne, who moved to Parksville from Vancouver two decades ago. “If you’re not busy, it’s by choice, because there’s so much to do, even in the winter.”
Cynthia Stanhope, 98, is an avid quilter and loves to spend the afternoon in her backyard with the birds.Taylor Roades/The Globe and Mail
Cynthia Stanhope, who is 98 years old and still lives independently, moved to Parksville from Victoria with her husband just before turning 60. She credits the social nature of the town as contributing to her longevity. She meets with friends every week to knit or have shared dinners.
She thinks she’d end up feeling much more isolated in a big, fast-paced city like Toronto, where she grew up. In a town with so many seniors, it’s easier to find people to relate to, and who are motivated to look out for each other.
And while Ms. Stanhope isn’t able to walk as much as she used to, she still manages to get out and take advantage of Parksville’s mild weather. She can leave the house in just a sweater in the winter.
Her son often catches fresh fish and hunts meat, a pastime her husband partook in before he died. Just earlier, she said, she was treated to one of her favourites from a recent hunt: venison liver.
She used to grow her own vegetables, but now shops for them. “When I do my groceries, I feel like I’ve been to a cocktail party. Everybody talks to you,” said Ms. Stanhope. “I have neighbours all around me that are just super, just wonderful … It’s just a really happy place.”
Lunenburg is ‘not a place to passively retire’
Although Lunenburg, unlike Parksville, is more known for its longevity among its long-time residents, newcomers do sometimes settle in the area – and find themselves quickly woven into the town’s social fabric.
Jean McKiel, 95, arrived from to Canada from England around the time she had children, and says the community welcomed her immediately.
She has faced immense loss – both parents during the Second World War, one child to choking and a difficult first marriage – but that doesn’t seem to dim her bright spirit, or health. She is one of Canada’s oldest competitive curlers, playing sometimes three times a week, and she golfs regularly at Lunenburg’s Bluenose Golf Club.
Her social calendar looks like one for someone in their 20s, each day booked up with an activity, and regular guests coming to her home. She says the social visits are especially important because she lives alone. “I get to be around people, and it’s hard for me to sit still.”
Ms. McKiel, 95, cares for her backyard garden daily in Lunenburg, which she planted from seeds about 20 years ago.Aly Ambler/The Globe and Mail
Indeed, it’s hard to believe that Ms. McKiel is five years away from becoming a centenarian, as she skitters around her house with the speed of a young woman. When renewing her driver’s licence, the employee remarked that people in their 90s rarely get them, but she passed with ease.
She eats homemade kefir each morning (which she says is a big reason for her great health) and although she says she sometimes does feel unsteady on her feet, each day she tends to her overflowing garden.
Tom and Letty McFall, who are in their 70s, moved from Edmonton to Lunenburg almost a decade ago. “It’s not a place to passively retire,” Ms. McFall said, referring to the amount of volunteerism that exists within the retiree community in Lunenburg, such as helping out at the local churches or opera house.
The town’s location has also changed the McFalls’ diet; they eat less beef, more seafood.
“It’s a healthier lifestyle,” Ms. McFall said. “I didn’t come to retire, I came to renew. I didn’t come to die, I came to live.”