About the Ital-Canadian Seniors Association

At the Ital-Canadian Seniors Association, we want to provide Edmontonians, with the opportunity to meet and improve their quality of life on a daily basis. Since 1986, we have provided this opportunity as a non-profit organization that is registered under the Societies Act and has charitable status under the federal government.

Throughout the years, we have had a full-time chef/manager and one part-time paid program coordinator/administrator to help us. However, without our volunteers putting in many hours of free time for us, we would not be able to offer the many programs and activities we have.

Our History

1988

Once we received land from the City of Edmonton, we had the space to create an outdoor bocce court, which was made up of three lanes and cost $60,000. Eventually, as our membership continued to grow, we built a drop-in centre for our meetings and activities.

1991

We needed even more room to grow, so at the cost of $600,000, we built a 5,000 square-foot centre.

1994

To make room for card games and several other games and daily activities, we constructed a building that enclosed the bocce courts. On its second floor, we had placed a library, boardroom, offices, and an arts and crafts room. This building was partly made possible by the funding of $520,000 by The Wild Rose Foundation and the Community Facility Enhancement Program.

1996

After a while, we needed to make our main hall and parking lot bigger, which ended up costing over $480,000. With our fundraising activities, such as bingos, casinos, and catered functions, we were able to cover 70% of the total cost of each phase of the centre’s construction.

2009

We received eleven panels from Lethbridge, which were a gift from the Italian embassy to the drop-in centre. After some time, it was brought to our president's attention that we needed to build a large chamber above the bocce court, and a lovely room with incredible Italian artefacts was opened. We spent $140,000 on it, with $70,000 coming from the provincial government and $70,000 coming from our incredible seniors.

Currently, the people guiding the direction and volunteers of the Ital-Canadian Seniors Association are the following board of directors: