OCSCO History

The Ontario Society (Coalition) of Senior Citizens' Organizations (OCSCO) is the largest seniors organization in Ontario. OCSCO has been an instrumental vehicle in uniting seniors and keeping seniors informed and active on current issues for the past 25 years and was granted a charitable registration number by the federal government. Our inception was brought about in 1985 as a means to work collaboratively to protest the de-indexing of seniors' pensions. At that time, 20 different seniors' organizations helped form OCSCO. Through many different Federal and Provincial governments, we grew over the years and are committed to continual growth. Our goal remains to improve the quality of life for seniors in Ontario. Today, there are over 160 organizations under OCSCO's umbrella, representing over 500,000 seniors in Ontario. We celebrated our 25th year in 2010.

OCSCO provides:

* Educational Programs
* Information, Referral & Counselling Services
* Multicultural Programs
* Health Promotion
* Involvement & Action
* Alliances & Joint Programs
* Intergenerational Programs
* Specialized Programs
* Outreach and Support
* Self-help Services
* Speakers Bureau
* Resource Centre
* Volunteer Programs
* Research
* Drama
* Internet and Computer Training

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Key OCSCO Milestones

• 2010: OCSO's 25th Anniversary.  25th Anniversary Commemorative Program Guide
• 2009-2010: OCSCO partnered with the Ontario Seniors' Secretariat (OSS) to host a series of five multicultural fiars.  The purpose of the fairs was to promote awareness of health and wellness among seniors.
  
• 2009: OCSCO promoted the Age-Friendly Communities (AFC) model In partnership with the Ontario Seniors' Secretariat (OSS) and other OSS liaison Committee members. The model was publicized through a series of seven regional forums.
• 2005: OCSCO's 20th Anniversary. OCSCO'S 20th Anniversary Commemorative Book (PDF Format, 4.9MB)
  2003: Sold out our "Health and Homecare in the Multicultural Community" conference June 2, 2003
  2003: Sold out our 4th Annual Summer Learning Series - "The Media and You." This series saw Adult Educator Anne Balaban explore how the media effects us. The series was planned and presented by OCSCO, Bernard Betel Centre for Creative Living and Ryerson's Continuing Education Department.
  2001: Second successful Summer Learning Series for Seniors, a four-part educational forum with Anne Balaban planned and presented by OCSCO, Bernard Betel Centre for Creative Living, and Ryerson's Continuing Education Department.
  2001: Submission sent to the Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada
  2000-2001: Forums on Long Term Care and Primary Health Care and the report released entitled: Long Term Care- In Limbo or Worse?
  2000: Play "If Not Now... When?" a play about seniors facing the future in our society - performances in six cities in Ontario.
  1999: Hosted two half day sessions in Montreal at the Fourth Global Conference on Aging with seniors' groups from across Canada.
  1999: 1-800-265-0779 toll Free number established.
  1999: International Year of Older Persons Conference - The ABCs of Aging held at Ryerson Polytechnic University, 375 participants from across Ontario.
  1998: A Snapshot of Caregiving in Ontario project took a closer look at caregiving in diverse urban, rural, francophone and ethnic communities.
  1998: Moved to our offices at 3101 Bathurst Street #500.
  1997: Older, Wiser, Living Stronger project
  1996: Project - Training for the Future for the Unemployed Older Worker and Retirees to enhance the independence and quality of life for older workers and retirees. Ten workshops and a manual.
  1996: Conference - Getting out of the Hospital ­ The Long Road Home.
  1995: The Stories Project Life Before Medicare: Canadian Experiences published and distributed.
  1995: Diversity and Aging: Windows of Opportunity forum on problems facing seniors of different ethnocultural and racial minority communities in Toronto.
  1995: Tenth anniversary celebrations.
  1994: OCSCO's Think Tank.
  1994: Home Alone: Who is Taking Care of our Elderly conference.
  1993: Workshops on housing and health care
  1993: Leadership Development Forum for Senior Women.
  1992: OCSCO as part of "The Senior Citizens' Consumer Alliance for Long Term Care" held 16 days of public hearings, 2 policy conferences, 7 mini-forums and issued a comprehensive report from the senior consumer's perspective on the Ontario government's proposals for redirected long term care. Final report to government and 6000 organizations.
  1991: Citizen Participation in Healthy Public Policy project.
  1985: Seniors' groups persuade the federal government to abandon its proposal to de-index the Old Age Security Pension.

* 1985: OCSCO founded