IntroductionA few decades ago, ageism was seen as an unpleasant social problem in many countries around the world, and the sight of a group of older men or women playing sports or jogging down the street would have been strikingly unusual (Butler 1969; Lagacé 2015). Prevailing socio-cultural attitude at the time reinforced the perception that older adults near, or at, retirement, were expected to retreat into a quiet and inactive life

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Health care and leisure services, although different, are similar from the perspective that both focus on enhancing quality of life by improving health and wellbeing. Although both of these services are vitally important, some groups such as aged immigrants face a number of barriers that may limit their access to these services. This paper examines and discusses two related areas of the service sector – health care and leisure – and the growing concern to address the needs of Canada’s aging population, specifically, aged immigrants. The paper concludes with the following five suggestions for health care and leisure service providers to alleviate barriers faced by Canada’s ethnic aged: 1) Recognize that health care and leisure are closely related, 2) Understand the changing nature of society including trends in immigration, 3) Get to know society’s diversity of aged immigrants, 4) Evaluate current services provided, and 5) Establish future goals and directions.

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