OSGA 55+ - Ontario Senior Games Association

—The Ontario Senior Games were originally initiated by the Older Adult Centres Association of Ontario( OACAO ) in late 1982

—In 1983, OACAO approached the Ministry of Tourism and Recreation for financial assistance to help develop the program and promote the activities throughout the various districts in Ontario

—The Ministry responded with financial assistance for the Games, a needs assessment, and evaluation. In that year, The Ontario Senior Games had approximately 4 600 participants in 31 activities in 21 different communities

—The Ministry determined this to be a viable project to sponsor and provided sufficient funds to hire a Provincial Co-ordinator

—In March of 1984, OACAO established a sub-committee ( Ontario Senior Games Committee) to develop and implement the Senior Games concept. The district format was established at this time.

—1984 saw 8 300 people participate in 38 activities in 35 districts and/or communities.

—In 1985 there were nearly 15 000 participants in 40 activities in just under 250 communities across the province

—This provided a strong position for the establishment of the first provincial competition of the Ontario Senior Games program titled Actifest '86

—In 1986 Actifest was hosted by the city of Kitchener followed by Brampton 1988, London 1990, Hamilton 1992, Sudbury 1994, Richmond Hill 1996, Windsor 1998, Ottawa Carlton Region 2000, Kingston 2002, St. Catherines 2004, Hamilton 2006, London 2008, Oshawa 2010, Brampton 2012, Windsor 2014, Midland 2016, Mississauga 2018, and Peterborough 2020.

—Ontario Summer 55+ Games is the Provincial Summer Competition for "Young At Heart Older Ontarians" 

—Ontario Summer 55+ Games is held biennially in the even numbered years. It provides gold place winners from each of the 36 districts an opportunity to compete with their peers from across the province.

—On April 1st, 1997, the OSG organization became its own incorporated body to be known as the Ontario Senior Games Association or OSGA .

—Since 1982, the Ontario Senior Games program has continued to grow

—The program's success is attributed in part to the funding received in the form of a grant from the Ministry of Citizenship, Culture and Recreation and the Seniors Secretariat began the ground work for the first Winter Games for Seniors in the province of Ontario. This provincial competition event was called Winterfest and is held biennially in the odd numbered years after its launch in 2000

—With financial support from the Secretariat as an "International Year of the Older Person" initiative, the pilot of the OSGA Winterfest became a reality. The town of Collingwood was selected as the official host community for this initiative and the event took place March 5-7, 2000

—Winterfest 2000 was a huge success with over 400 competitors. The events included Alpine Skiing, Nordic Skiing, Curling, Skating, Hockey, Volleyball and Badminton. Next, London successfully hosted Winterfest 2003 and attracted 800 participants from 26 districts. Five Pin and Ten Pin Bowling were added to the first list of events with Basketball as a demonstration sport. Barrie 2005,  Brockville 2007, Brockville 2009, Ontario Senior 55+ Winter Games in Haliburton 2011, Huntsville 2013, Haliburton 2015, Cobourg 2017, andHuntsville/Muskoka 2019.

—New logo and marketing was developed in 2010 and continues to promote OSGA throughout the province. There are currently 36 districts in Ontario participating in the Senior games.

—In 2011, the Ontario Senior Games Association began branding their identity throughout Ontario and will be referred to as OSGA 55+