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News and Events for Seniors


News


Covid-19 Response and Resources

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted many decisions to curtail or cancel programs and events in the Edmonton area and senior-serving organizations are no exception.


ESCC will endeavour to keep a list of closures, postponement of events or contingency plans being instituted. Updates concerning changes to programming in the Edmonton  seniors sector will be posted to our new COVID-19 resource page. 


Proactive, preventative measures will help to mitigate risks. The following reliable sources of information are being looked to for updates.


The Alberta Government

This website outlines COVID-19 information for Albertans

Self Isolation Information Sheet

Alberta Health advises: If you have COVID-19 symptoms and have travelled outside Canada or were exposed to someone who has COVID-19, stay home and call Health Link at 811 for instructions. Do not go to a health care facility without consulting Health Link at 811 first. If you need immediate medical attention, call 911 and inform them that you may have COVID-19. 

For more information, please consult this Q&A document addressing common COVID-19 inquiries for seniors developed by the Ministry of Seniors and Housing. 


The Federal Government 

Community-based measures to mitigate the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Canada

Mass gatherings and risk

COVID-19 Be Prepared

COVID-19 Know the facts


Public Health Agency of Canada

Travel Health Advisories

 

Government Extends Tax Deadlines Amidst COVID-19 Outbreak

The federal government has extended the due date for filing individual tax returns to June 1, 2020. Taxpayers will have until September 1, 2020 to pay any 2019 income tax amounts owed.

Delivery Services for Seniors

Edmonton Senior's Coordinating Council has created a document providing a summarized list of service providers to assist and support seniors in our community during the COVID-19 outbreak. These services operate out of Edmonton. If you live in a surrounding community, please contact the provider to see if they serve your area.

 

Seniors' Shopping Hours

North Edmonton Seniors Association has created a handy list of seniors' shopping hours at grocery stores. During these times, the intention is that stores will only be open for seniors.
  • Costco: 8-9 a.m., Tuesday and Thursday
  • Italian Centre Shop: 9-10 a.m., Monday and Thursday
  • Safeway: 7-8 a.m., daily
  • Save-On Foods: 7-8 a.m., daily
  • Shoppers Drug Mart: 8-9 a.m., daily (hours vary by location) 
  • Sobeys: 7-8 a.m., daily
  • Sunterra: 8-9 a.m., Wednesday and Saturday
  • Superstore: 7-8 a.m., daily
  • Walmart: 7-8 a.m., weekdays 


COVID-19: Activities you can do from home if self-isolating


If you are self-isolating and staying inside your home more often during the COVID-19 pandemic, here are some ideas of activities you can do from home.


Seniors' Centre Without Walls

This telephone-based social group for seniors offers social and health programming, free of charge, and provides seniors opportunities to socialize, learn new skills, and stay connected. Seniors' Centre Without Walls is open to seniors age 55+ living anywhere in Alberta.


Learn more on their website and call 780-395-2626 to register.


Aging with Pride Phone Program for 2SLGBTQ+ Seniors

2SLGBTQ+ seniors can access remote phone programming through Aging with Pride. There are a ton of great activities coming up, including 2SLGBTQ+ Book Club (April 1), Seniors Beats (April 8), and 2SLGBTQ+ Movie Club (April 15). While there is no set age limit, participants should identify as older adults. All genders, sexualities, and abilities are welcome.

To participate, call 1-855-703-8985 and enter the meeting ID 293 631 2402. For more information about pride seniors programming, email seniors@pridecentreofedmonton.ca.


Age Friendly Edmonton Podcasts

The Shared Mic: Conversations for the Ages intergenerational podcast brings together people from all ages, stages, and backgrounds to discuss topics like navigating relationships, finding space to be ones’ true self, and the evolving role of technology in our lives. By creating space for intergenerational discussions, AFE hopes to build a city that values, respects, and actively supports citizens from all walks of life.


In each podcast episode, guests are assigned a topic and given free reign to discuss that topic while sharing different perspectives, but also finding common ground. At a time when we like to focus on what divides us as “Boomers”, “Millennials” “Gen Xers”, and so on, the Shared Mic brings us together to create a shared understanding of the human experience.


You can access The Shared Mic online or through your favourite podcast streaming service, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. 


U of A MOOCs

The University of Alberta offers several free non-credit courses called Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC). Courses include Astro 1010, Bugs 101, Dino 101, Mountains 1010, Introduction to the Arctic, Indigenous Canada and several paleontology topics.


EPL Online Resources

Edmonton Public Library offers a wide variety of online resources - courses, language learning, magazines, books, music (streaming audio) and film (streaming video). All you need is your free library card!


Open Culture

Open Culture curates and centralizes free online cultural and educational content from around the world. Their resource collections include audio books, eBooks, movies, online courses from top universities, and language learning resources.


Virtual tours of world-class museums and heritage sites


Music/Theatre/Film/Literature

  • The Story Calls program by Storytelling Alberta connects you to talented storytellers who will read you a story over the phone.  
  • The Metropolitan Opera will host free Nightly Met Opera Streams of past performances from its Live in HD series. The encore presentations will begin at 7:30 p.m. EST each night on the company’s official website and will then be available for an additional 20 hours thereafter.
  • The Seattle Symphony will share free rebroadcasts of past performances via the Symphony’s social media channels on YouTube and Facebook.
  • BroadwayHD has a library of hundreds of Broadway productions (paid service)
  • CBC introduces Movie Night in Canada
  • Online Music Education Games
  • Audible presents a collection of their stories including more than 25 literary classics for free to stream on your desktop, laptop, phone or tablet.
  • Joe’s Pub Live offers a free series of live-streamed and archived performances from their stage in New York City each Thursday, Friday and Saturday night at 8 PM Eastern.
  • The National Film Board of Canada’s online Screening Room features more than 3,000 films that you can stream for free or downloaded for your personal use for a small fee.
  • The Social Distancing Festival is curating an ongoing list of cultural live stream events including literature, dance, music and theatre.
  • Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 8 p.m. Eastern l'Orchestre symphonique de Montréal will stream a concert from its archive.
  • CBC Music will be keeping an eye out for Canadian musicians' live streams and updating this list as often as possible.
  • Uke 101: Learn to play the ukulele

  • National Arts Centre: The NAC is broadcasting #CanadaPerforms concerts via their social media channels (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter). You can also search these platforms using the #CanadaPerforms hashtag. The NAC will also share other content such as podcasts, suggested online theatre, dance and music performances, past NAC Orchestra recordings and videos. NAC Orchestra musicians will also offer individual performances and more.

  • National Theatre in London presents National Theatre at Home. Every Thursday beginning April 2 they will release a new play along with bonus content including cast and creative Q&As and post-stream talks. Each week’s content will be free for one week.
  • The Citadel Theatre presents the Stuck-in-the-House Series featuring performances by Edmonton artists. You can watch live on their Facebook page or see past performances on YouTube.The series runs until April 20.
  • The Edmonton Journal is tracking Alberta-based arts and entertainment livestreaming events in The List.
  • Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre is airing professionally-filmed Shakespeare plays every two weeks for free. Other free content includes readings of Shakespeare’s works and performances of Shakespeare plays in multiple languages.


Science


Fitness


Religious Services


Games

  • This post from Lifehacker outlines board and card games you can play online. 
  • This post from Boston.com lists board games you can access online.
  • Tabletopia has 800 board games including Bridge
  • Play a game of scrabble through the Internet Scrabble Club

 

Coursera

Coursera offers hundreds of free courses featuring on-demand video lectures, homework exercises, and community discussion forums.