On Advocacy and the Future of Aging, with Laura Tamblyn Watts

Laura Tamblyn Watts, lawyer and CEO of CanAge, joins us to talk about the different aspects of advocacy and how you can be an advocate – starting with your own story.

Laura Tamblyn Watts is the Founder and CEO of CanAge, Canada’s national seniors’ advocacy organization. Laura is a passionate advocate on a variety of urgent issues affecting older Canadians, including long-term care and home care, financial security, elder abuse, health care, ageism and inclusion of marginalized communities.

Laura previously served as Chief Public Policy Officer at the Canadian Association of Retired Persons before establishing CanAge at the onset of the Covid 19 pandemic. Since then, CanAge has emerged as a go-to media commentator and trusted voice for Canadian seniors, underscored by Laura’s more than 20 years’ experience defending the rights and dignity of older people as a lawyer and thought-leader.

She is a member of the CSA National Long-Term Care Standards Advisory and Technical committees, and an expert in long-term care and residents’ rights.

Laura is actively involved in seniors’ legal, financial and regulatory reform initiatives in Canada, the US, Australia and the South Pacific, including sitting on several federal government advisory boards and working groups guiding public policy standards and legislation

After being called to the bar in 1999, Laura gained extensive legal experience in matters surrounding aging. She currently teaches the Law and Aging course at the Factor Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto, where she is also a Fellow of the Institute for Life Course and Aging. Having served as past chair, Laura is currently an executive member of the Canadian Bar Association’s National Elder Law section and a board member of the National Initiative for the Care of the Elderly (NICE network), PACE Independent Living, and Elder Abuse Prevention Ontario.

Laura is also an authority on financial matters affecting older adults . As a member of the Investment Funds Institute of Canada’s (IFIC) committee on Seniors and Vulnerable Investors, she serves as a Canadian representative on the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASSA) Committee on Vulnerable Investors, and is a member of the Investment Industry Regulators Organizations of Canada (IIROC). She also served on the board of the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI). Prior to joining OBSI’s board, she chaired its Consumer and Investor Advisory Committee.

Laura is a member of the Ontario Securities Commission’s Task Force on Seniors and co-founded Canada’s second low-income seniors’ legal services centre, SeniorsFirst BC, located in Vancouver..

Laura received her certificate in bilingualism in 1991 and was awarded the Distinguished International Fellow Award from Stetson University Centre for Excellence in Elder Law. Laura is proud to be a Canadian representative to the International Guardianship Network, and Fellow of the World Congress on Adult Guardianship.