Seniors Canada On-line
Canada's Trusted Information Source for Seniors, Caregivers, Families and Service Providers.

Help

There are two ways to learn how to take full advantage of the features available on the Seniors Canada On-line Web site: an audio visual presentation and Text Help. 

The audio visual presentation uses computer animation to show the most useful aspects of our site.

If you prefer to simply read about how to use Seniors Canada On-line, click on a help topic(s) from the list below. When you are finished reading about a help topic, click the Back button to return to the list of help topics.

You can click on the topic that interests you and go quickly to that page.

If you need help locating specific information and features available on our website, click on the Site Map button at the bottom of this page.

Description of Navigational Buttons

Finding Information

Description of Navigational Buttons

Government of Canada Navigational Button Bar (black, top of page)

The black navigation bar at the top of the page (Government of Canada Navigational Button Bar) has been developed to give you a familiar starting point at all Government of Canada Web sites.

Seniors Canada Online Navigation Bar (blue, top of page)

Seniors Canada Online Navigational Button Bar (blue, left-hand side of page)

Links at Bottom of Page

Finding Information

We offer you more than one way to find information. Click on the desired link to any of the following sections:

We welcome any comments or suggestions regarding the search feature.

• Search by Subject
• A to Z Index
• My Province or Territory
• Life Events"
• Search
• Tips for More Exact Searches

From the left menu bar, click on the category of interest. Next will be a list of the categories available under that subject. Click on the category name for a list of the links we have under that category.

The "path" (also called breadcrumbs) through the subjects and categories you have selected remains at the top of the page. Clicking on one of them will return you to that page.

All the links on our site have been categorized by subject(s). If you do not see the Subject of interest in the left menu bar you can use our A to Z index feature to see the additional subjects.

From the top menu bar, click on A to Z Index to get the A to Z Index page. Click on the letter that corresponds to the first letter of the subject you are searching. A new page is shown that lists the subjects available. Click on the one you want.

You can use the "My Province or Territory" feature to help sort your search results.

By selecting a Province or Territory, the search results will be displayed with your province/territory first, then the links for Canada and then the links for the other Provinces/Territories. This selection can be done either at the start of your search or after the search results have been displayed.

If you do not select a Province/Territory, the same links will be displayed but sorted in alphabetical order.

Life Events is designed to greatly reduce the time you would spend searching and assist you in retrieving the type of information you need.

Select a Life Event. You will be asked to choose a Province or Territory if you have not already done this.

The first two questions determine your area of interest. Your answers to the other questions tells us the specific topics you want information on. When finished, click the Search Button.

The search results will be displayed with the province/territory you choose first, followed by the federal links. If the results are more than 25 links, click on the Previous or Next button to show more results. The system displays the results in group of 25 links at a time.

If you do not get any results, it may be because the system does not recognize the combination of search that you have selected. Go back to the Questions page and choose another combination.

From the top menu bar, click on the word Search to get the Search Screen.
Enter the word or phrase to be searched in the "Search words or phrase" text box.
At the "Matching Items Should Have" drop down list you can widen or narrow your search by selecting one of the options--click on the arrow at the side of the box to see your choices.
At the "Matching items should be" drop down list you can select whether you want your search in one or both official languages--click on the arrow at the side of the box to see your choices.
At the "Geographic Locations" drop down list you can select one province or territory to target your search geographically. When finished, Click the Search Button.
If the search yields more than 25 items, they are grouped in multiples of 25. Click on the Previous or Next button to show more results.

Tips for More Exact Searches

1. Lowercase and Uppercase--The Search feature is not case-sensitive. For example, a search for minister will yield Minister, MINISTER and MinIsTeR.

2. Expand your Search--It is also possible to expand your search by typing just part of the word. The search then yields all words starting with the typed letters, regardless of how they end.

3. Special Characters and Accents--If you search for a word without indicating accents, you will obtain all related words with or without accents. This can be very useful when looking for French words.

4. What is a Word--When searching, think of a word as a combination of letters and numbers. The search service needs to know how to separate words and numbers to find exactly what you want on the Internet. You can separate words using spacing and tabs.

5. What is a Phrase--You can link words and numbers together into phrases if you want specific words or numbers to appear together in your result pages. If you want to find an exact phrase, use "double quotation marks" around the phrase when you enter words in the search box.

Last Modified: 2006-03-01

Important Notices