Executive Workshop: 'Live Longer and Better'

This learning journey takes companies from healthcare, AgeTech, Consumer Health Tech, and furniture into Canada's 'living longer and better' ecosystem to explore market opportunities and forge valuable business connections. Participants will gain insights into best practice in 'aging in place', digitally supported care, innovative housing and community concepts, social innovation, and strategies for age-friendly cities. Direct contact will be established with relevant stakeholders through company visits, roundtables, and networking events. This will present concrete starting points for collaborations, pilot projects, and market entry into Canada. The learning journey aims to provide an initial impression of how German companies can adapt their solutions for independent living, smart health furniture, digital assistance systems, and social innovations to Canadian market conditions and scale them through partnerships.

The five-day learning journey 'Living Longer and Better' is taking place from July 27 to 31, 2026 in Toronto. There will be a shared program for industry-specific insights for companies from the social and healthcare sector as well as the furniture industry. Following an informal get-together on Sunday evening, participants will kick the Monday off with a welcome briefing at the Canadian German Chamber of Commerce, providing an overview of the economic and legal landscape in Canada as well as business culture. This will be followed by industry-specific company visits or a reception at a leading innovation hub, where startups, research institutions, and industry players collaborate on digital health solutions, AgeTech applications, and new business models.

In the following days, the delegation will dive deeper into these topics through visits to selected companies and institutions in the greater Toronto area. Planned stops include technology and AgeTech providers, research and innovation centers, as well as other players along the 'Living Longer and Better' value chain. Roundtables with institutions such as financial and insurance partners will offer insights into funding structures, business models, and scaling strategies for digital health and social care offerings as well as smart health furniture. The program is further complemented by visits to design and technology companies and innovative digital health providers, showcasing how user-centered product design, sensor technology, AI-based analytics, and service-oriented business models work together. Shared dinners and networking events will provide ample opportunities for in-depth exchange with Canadian stakeholders and the initiation of individual B2B conversations.

A detailed itinerary to come soon.

Canada is one of the fastest-aging societies in the G7: nearly one in five people are over the age of 65, and projections indicate that the percentage of older adults will continue to rise significantly by 2050. This demographic shift is particularly felt in urban centers such as the greater Toronto area, where the population is growing through immigration while simultaneously aging. This has direct consequences for housing, healthcare, and social infrastructure. 

At the same time, Canada is actively transforming its healthcare and social systems: digital care models, AgeTech solutions, consumer health offerings, and new housing concepts are all aimed at enabling people to live longer, independently, and safely in their own homes. In Toronto, a vibrant ecosystem is emerging around these developments by bringing together research institutions, startups, established healthcare and social enterprise companies, insurers, financial service providers, and technology firms, all focused on 'aging in place', social innovation, and age-friendly urban development. 

For German companies in healthcare, social, and furniture sectors, this creates attractive opportunities to position their expertise in digitally supported care models, smart health furniture, service-oriented business models, and user-centered design within a dynamically growing market.

The 'Living Longer and Better' learning journey is planned, organized, and implemented by the Canadian German Chamber of Industry and Commerce Inc. on behalf of von Neuem GmbH and DUCAH eG (Digital Urban Center for Aging & Health). As part of the global AHK network, the Canadian German Chamber of Industry and Commerce brings an experienced team of market experts in Toronto and has been supporting German companies with market entry and business development in Canada for many years — from market analyses and business partner matchmaking to delegation trips and specialist conferences.

Von Neuem and DUCAH contribute their specific expertise in the areas of social and healthcare, AgeTech, consumer health, smart health furniture, and community development, and stand for a consistently user- and human-centered understanding of innovation in the context of demographic change. Together, the partners provide curated access to an excellent network of Canadian research institutions, companies, startups, associations, and public sector actors, enabling participating companies to use this learning journey as a strategic springboard for sustainable market activities and partnerships in Canada.