How older racialized immigrants are lost in translation in Canadian cities

As cities across Canada work toward becoming more age-friendly and inclusive, transportation planning must also better reflect the realities of aging immigrants. (Unsplash) How older racialized immigrants are lost in translation in Canadian cities Published: June 17, 2026 12.09pm EDT Share article Print article Public transit is often described as the backbone of an inclusive city. But for many older racialized immigrants, getting on a bus can also mean navigating fear, confusion and humiliation. Transit systems in Canadian cities are designed for English-speaking riders, and for immigrants, that’s not a minor inconvenience. It’s a barrier to independence and health access. For an ongoing study I am a part of, we interviewed 54 older racialized immigrants and conducted four subsequent co-design workshops to engage seniors’ ideas about improving transit in the Ontario city of Hamilton. We found that language barriers shape far more than communication. They affect whether older adults can travel without assistance, access essential services and feel that they belong in the city at all. This matters because Canadian cities are rapidly aging and becoming more diverse. According to Statistics Canada, immigrants make up nearly one-quarter of Canada’s population. Many older immigrants also arrive later in life with limited English proficiency. In Hamilton, Arabic is now the most commonly spoken non-official language. Yet transit systems continue to operate largely as though all riders can easily read schedules, understand announcements and navigate digital apps in English. The result is a hidden form of mobility exclusion. A hidden mobility barrier The study’s initial findings indicate that many older immigrants struggle with basic but critical parts of everyday travel with transit. Some of these aspects of the journey include understanding bus route changes, reading stop information, communicating with drivers and passengers and using transit apps. Some described taking the wrong bus and ending up far from home because they could not understand route names or numbers or announcements and could not ask the driver to stop and drop them at their intended stop. One participant, a 75-year-old woman who immigrated to Canada nine years ago from East Asia, accidentally boarded the wrong bus because she could not distinguish between two route variations. Instead of reaching her destination in Ancaster, she ended up in Dundas, almost 10 to 12 kilometres…