Canadian government's framing of ageing at work and older workers: Echoing positive ageing models

Public representations of ageing can influence how individuals perceive their own experience of ageing. Results of studies on the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)'s governmental messages on older workers suggest that they are mainly constructed around economic productivity and personal responsibility.

The goal of this study is to examine how the Canadian government frames issues around ageing, work and older workers. Canada is facing a rapidly ageing workforce, hence the importance of examining how the government discusses ageing at work.

A thematic content analysis was conducted on a total of 154 government web pages.

Results revealed that predominant themes revolve around economic challenges resulting from an ageing workforce. Older workers are depicted as a key component for the (economic) management of an ageing workforce. More specifically, older workers who intend to continue working are highly valued in the government's messages which present them as productive citizens and role models for "ageing well".

Canada's response to the challenges of an ageing workforce echoes the underlying standards of positive ageing models, which may generate, perhaps inadvertently, a new form of ageism by creating intra-and intergenerational divides in the workplace.