Laura Tamblyn Watts

CEO of CanAge

Ms. Tamblyn Watts is the CEO of CanAge, Canada’s national seniors’ advocacy organization. Her work focuses on aging, inclusion, consumer rights and social justice. She has previously served as Chief Public Policy Officer at the Canadian Association of Retired Persons and in a number of positions at the Canadian Centre for Elder Law including as their long-time National Director. She is an Assistant Professor (status) at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto where she is also a Fellow of the Institute for LifeCourse and Aging. Ms. Tamblyn Watts is past Board member of the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI). Prior to joining OBSI’s Board, she chaired OBSI’s Consumer and Investor Advisory Committee for 8 years. She is a Board member Elder Abuse Prevention Ontario, PACE Independent Living, and the NICE Network. Ms. Tamblyn Watts is a past Chair of the Canadian Bar Association’s National Elder Law section, where she sits as a current Executive member. She is a member of the Investment Funds Institute of Canada’s (IFIC) committee on Seniors and Vulnerable Investors (IFIC) and serves as a Canadian representative on the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) Advisory committee on Vulnerable Investors. She is a continuing member of the Ontario Securities Commission’s Taskforce on Seniors. She helped to co-found Canada’s second low-income seniors’ legal services centre, SeniorsFirst BC, located in Vancouver, and served as its first Legal Director.

Ms. Tamblyn Watts received her undergraduate honours degree in Political Science from Queen’s University and her law degree with honours from the University of Victoria. She was awarded the 2020/21 Community Leadership in Justice Fellowship by the Law Foundation of Ontario. She was also awarded the Distinguished International Fellow Award from Stetson University Centre for Excellence in Elder Law and is a Canadian representative to the International Guardianship Network, and Fellow of the World Congress on Adult Guardianship. Ms. Tamblyn Watts is the author of numerous papers on aging issues and is a frequent media commentator.