Published online December 17, 2025, at www.pontiacjournal.com.
Mélissa Gélinas
Local Journalism Initiative
MRC PONTIAC – To better respond to the needs of a rapidly aging population, 12 Pontiac municipalities — Bryson, Fort-Coulonge, L’Île-du-Grand-Calumet, Litchfield, Mansfield, Otter Lake, Shawville, Thorne, Chichester, Alleyn-et-Cawood, Sheenboro and L’Isle-aux-Allumettes — will take part in the Municipalité amie des aînés (MADA) initiative.
MADA is a Quebec government program aimed at better adapting and planning living environments to reflect the realities faced by seniors, through the development of policies and services that take their needs into account. According to Marie Gionet, economic development commissioner for culture and heritage at the MRC Pontiac, the goal is to reduce ageism and encourage active participation in all communities. She said the initiative seeks to ensure that no senior experiences food insecurity, that seniors have access to transportation, and that they are able to remain in their homes as long as possible or live in settings where they feel well supported.
To carry out the project, the MRC Pontiac has hired the firm Communagir, which will assist with policy development, public consultations and other aspects of the initiative. Communagir is the same firm that the MRC worked with to develop the recent immigration plan. The project is being funded at an estimated cost of $26,000 through the Regions and Rurality (FRR) budget.
Surveys will also be distributed to residents to better understand their priorities and needs. Once the data has been collected, an action plan will be developed. The survey may be made available before the holidays: online, in pharmacies, at Bouffe Pontiac, and at certain banks and credit unions across the MRC.
Created in Quebec in 2009, MADA is recognized internationally and is inspired by the World Health Organization’s Age-Friendly Cities program, which was launched in 2005 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, during an assembly of the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics. That program promotes active aging while optimizing seniors’ health, participation and safety to improve quality of life on a global scale. In Quebec, the initiative operates under the MADA designation, and since 2014, nearly 700 Quebec municipalities have joined.
The MADA initiative is built around five key objectives: ending ageism; adapting policies, services and structures to seniors’ realities, taking a global and integrated approach; encouraging seniors’ participation; and supporting collaboration and community-wide mobilization.
Quebec is among the regions in the world with the fastest-aging populations, second only to Japan. This demographic shift is driven by increased life expectancy and declining birth rates. By 2030, people aged 65 and over are expected to represent 27% of the global population. This transformation presents significant challenges not only for seniors, but for Quebec society as a whole as it adapts to this new demographic reality.
