Ottawa will invest more than $61 million to empower seniors in their communities, the government announced Wednesday.

Funding through the New Horizons for Seniors Program (NHSP) will support more than 3,000 community-based projects across the country.

Officials said 87 of those projects are in New Brunswick and will receive more than $1.6 million in funding.

Organizations were invited to apply for funding that created opportunities for seniors to be more connected, supported and active members of their communities.

The projects had to align with the program’s national priorities: supporting healthy aging, preventing senior abuse, celebrating diversity and promoting inclusion, and helping seniors to age in place.

Since 2004, the NHSP has funded more than 36,500 projects in hundreds of communities across Canada with a total investment of more than $780 million.