Generations Toronto offers new blueprint for ageing, caring and living together
Mawlana Hazar Imam addresses guests at the inauguration of Generations Toronto on 30 March 2026.
Photo: IPL / Akbar Hakim
Mawlana Hazar Imam; the Honourable Shafqat Ali, President of the Treasury Board of Canada; and Mayor of Toronto Olivia Chow unveil a plaque to inaugurate Generations Toronto.
Photo: IPL / Akbar Hakim
Hazar Imam attended a site review of Generations Toronto on 30 March 2026.
Photo: IPL / Akbar Hakim
The Honourable Shafqat Ali, President of the Treasury Board of Canada, addresses guests at the inauguration of Generations Toronto.
Photo: IPL / Akber Dewji
Generations Toronto is a community space in the fullest sense, one where people live, receive care, raise children, share meals, and grow together.
Photo: IPL / The Ismaili
Toronto’s Mayor Olivia Chow delivers remarks at the inauguration of Generations Toronto.
Photo: IPL / Akber Dewji
The Honourable Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario, addresses guests at the inauguration of Generations Toronto on 30 March 2026.
Photo: IPL / Akber Dewji
President of the Ismaili Council for Canada Ameerally Kassim-Lakha welcomes guests to the Ismaili Centre, Toronto.
Photo: IPL / Akbar Hakim
Toronto’s Mayor Olivia Chow awards Mawlana Hazar Imam the Key to the City of Toronto on 30 March 2026.
Photo: IPL / Akbar Hakim
Mawlana Hazar Imam yesterday morning inaugurated Generations Toronto, a not-for-profit, inter-generational living space in the heart of Canada’s most populous city. Later in the day, Toronto’s Mayor Olivia Chow awarded Hazar Imam the Key to the City in recognition of the Ismaili Imamat’s decades-long service and leadership to enhance Toronto’s public life, identity and sense of community.
After much anticipation, civic and community leaders assembled to witness the inauguration of an innovative facility in Toronto yesterday. Generations is a community space in the fullest sense, one where people live, receive care, raise children, share meals, and grow together.
Generations is part affordable housing complex, part long-term care home, part health clinic, and part early childhood centre—thus responding to some of Canada's most persistent social challenges: the rising cost of elder care, a chronic shortage of affordable housing, and the rising epidemic of social isolation among seniors.
Rather than address these problems separately, the model brings them together under one roof, in this case, across a 60-acre multi-residential campus.
Grounded in Islamic values of compassion, service, and respect for human dignity, the Generations model is nonetheless designed to be broadly inclusive. The project welcomes people of all backgrounds, and its programming reflects that intent. A community kitchen, fitness facilities, and multipurpose cultural and educational spaces are built to serve not just residents, but the surrounding neighbourhood too.
“In the Islamic tradition, care for the elderly is not a social policy. It is a duty,” Hazar Imam explained his remarks to guests. “Reverence for those who came before us, solidarity across generations, responsibility to the places where we live—these are the ethical commitments that guide the Ismaili Muslim community.”
“May this be a place where people find dignity, care, and compassion,” Hazar Imam added. “Where the laughter of children and the presence of elders remind us that a community’s strength lies in the bonds between generations.”
After a plaque unveiling ceremony at the Ismaili Centre in Toronto, Hazar Imam attended a site review along with the Honourable Shafqat Ali, President of the Treasury Board of Canada; the Honourable Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario; and Mayor Chow.
The project has been years in development, and its opening this summer will reflect more than bricks and mortar. The numbers tell part of the story. Generations Toronto will include 390 affordable rental apartments, ranging from studios to three-bedroom units. A 122-bed long-term care home, operated by AgeCare and licensed by the Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care, will sit within the same development.
A primary and mental health clinic, an early childhood development centre for children aged 18 months to six years, and a community kitchen round out the site.
What makes the model distinctive is how the elements fit together. A senior in long-term care and a toddler in the early learning centre can share the same campus. Families in affordable housing units live alongside older residents. Programming spaces are designed specifically for intergenerational interaction—the kind of contact that research consistently links to better health outcomes and reduced isolation.
“Generations Toronto is more than a building,” said the Honourable Shafqat Ali. “It reflects the society we’re choosing to build together.”
Mayor Chow echoed the sentiment: “It is an extraordinary example of what community-driven city building looks like,” she said. “It is so natural as we grow up together that we [should benefit from] the knowledge and wisdom of our seniors.”
Federal, provincial, and municipal governments, alongside Jamati institutions and donors, partnered to deliver the project to completion. Such layered collaboration—across levels of government and sectors—is itself part of what Generations hopes to model for future developments of its kind.
Premier Ford spoke of the project’s importance to the city and region, having followed its progress since attending the groundbreaking ceremony in 2022. “I’m thrilled to see the vision of your father, Aga Khan IV, come to life,” he said, turning to Hazar Imam. “Your commitment to improving lives will benefit people in Ontario for decades to come.”
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