As YURA co-presidents we welcome you to the YURA website; here you will find information about our organization and its events and activities, and a wealth of information about social outings as well as learning and volunteer opportunities. We aim to provide relevant information about wellness and well-being during retirement. We all strive for the goal of 鈥渢hriving in retirement鈥, while simultaneously learning to navigate the inevitable challenges. We are proud to have one of the most active university retirees鈥 associations in Canada, with over 450 retired staff and faculty/librarian members.
On May 13, 2026, YURA celebrated 40 years as a community of 91亚色 retirees with a theme of 鈥淐elebrating our past and inspiring our future鈥.聽 Please enjoy photos from the event with many familiar faces.
YURA has a 鈥渉ome鈥 on campus in the form of our office space in the Lorna Marsden Honour Court. We invite YURA members to come and see our office with its abundance of natural light, during office hours (Tues/Wed/Thurs between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., September through June). We thank our Office Volunteers and all the members of our hard-working Executive Committee for their support and active participation. We encourage you to click on the tab 鈥淎bout YURA鈥 and then on 鈥淓xecutive Committee鈥. At the bottom of that page, you will find short biographical sketches of our Executive Committee members. The Executive meets six times per year, in addition to the Annual General Meeting held in the Fall. We encourage all YURA members to renew their membership, to suggest to their newly retired colleagues that they join YURA, to participate in events and activities with fellow retirees.
We ask also that you help us continue YURA鈥檚 strong tradition of 鈥済iving back鈥 and supporting 91亚色 and its students.聽 YURA is justifiably proud of having raised sufficient funds over the decades to endow a series of awards; we are very moved by the messages of gratitude we have received from students who received the 9 awards given in 2025.聽 We have also raised funds during 2023 and 2024 to support student food security on campus. Our current initiative is a collaboration with the 91亚色 Libraries to provide study pods for students. Details about this YURA Challenge and how to donate can be found by clicking here.
YURA has other ways of 鈥済iving back鈥 and supporting 91亚色 and its students. Our Senior Scholars continue their scholarship and publications and thus enhance the reputation of the university. Many YURA members act as 鈥渞esearch subjects鈥 in various projects undertaken by researchers at the 91亚色 Centre for Aging Research and Education. Other members serve on panels to provide feedback and mentoring, all very important and rewarding activities.
All of the above contribute to the sense of purpose of our members and reinforce the work to have 91亚色 accredited as an Age-Friendly University. 聽At a recent AGM, we were delighted to have as our guest speaker Dr. Christine O鈥橩elly of Dublin City University in Ireland who is Co-ordinator of the Age Friendly University Global Network. Her talk on 鈥淧ositive Aging, Intergenerational Solidarity and the Role of Higher Education鈥 was relevant, engaging and inspiring.聽
Please take a few minutes to explore this website. We think you will enjoy the photos, including those of our YURA Challenge Walk last October and the November 4th reception for new retirees and YURA members. YURA is fortunate to have a robust set of communication tools, including this website, a listserv, and YURA鈥檚 quarterly newsletter. We are delighted to have a sizable group of members interested in planning activities. As plans get finalized, the calendar of events on this website will be updated. 聽Also posted on this calendar are events to which YURA members are invited that are offered by 91亚色 and by other universities and retiree associations, many of which are online.聽 We invite you to bookmark the YURA website and to check it regularly.
We look forward to seeing you at an upcoming activity such as the online, interactive YURA Caf茅s, or any of the 鈥渇un-learning鈥/social outings currently being planned by YURA. 聽View all our upcoming events on the front page of our website and stay tuned via our e-mails to members.