Optima Living
Proudly rooted in Western Canada, Optima Living is redefining senior living by supporting the residents in our communities to live their best lives.
Optima Living owns and manages seniors' communities across Alberta and British Columbia, infusing each with a distinctive culture yet all focusing on the same core values of respect, dignity, working together, and doing the right thing. Our North Star, “Let us welcome you home,” reflects the transformative experiences awaiting seniors in our communities, where residents and team members are like family, in an environment that truly feels like home.
Optima Living’s range of senior living options include Independent Living, Assisted Living, Supportive Living, Long-Term Care, Brain Health, and Memory Care — funded both publicly and privately — all catering to the diverse needs of residents with a supportive, person-centred approach.
Our Mission is to provide intimate, home-style living for seniors. We seek to provide the best quality of life possible by enabling each resident to experience a full and independent lifestyle.
We envision every person feeling at home. Here at Optima Living, we feel it is an honour to work with you and we advocate a resident-centred approach where you, the Resident, are the focus of all our endeavours.
Respect You
Uphold Your Dignity
Work Together
Do The Right Thing
Join Us
Do you share Optima Living’s vision for the future of senior communities? We would love for you to join us!
Our Leadership
Farid F. Damji
He has a master’s degree in Health Administration. He previously held the position of Adjunct Clinical Professor for the Department of Health Care and Epidemiology within the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia.
Farid has more than 20 years of strategic and operational experience in complex health care environments, including both hospital and community care settings with the BC Ministry of Health, Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, Fraser Health Authority, and Interior Health Authority.
Karim Kassam
Karim has over 25 years of senior executive leadership experience leading in a variety of organizations leading commercial, sales and corporate development, including extensive experience in hospitality and seniors health care and housing. He also held senior executive officer roles at Ballard Power Systems for 10 years, was a Franchisee at Boston Pizza for over 20 years, and was recognized as one of the top agents in Canada at Colliers International where he led the creation of its multi-family investment division in Edmonton.
He is Chair of the BC Women's Health Foundation, Chair of Effective Pricing Solutions, Vice Chair of the BC Seniors Living Association, and Board Director of the Alberta Continuing Care Association.
Ali Shivji
Ali is an expert in care, housing, design, and programming for seniors, having worked in strategy and operations in both the public and private health care sectors for over 10 years. He has worked with the National Health Service in the United Kingdom and with McKinsey & Company’s International Health Care practice, primarily focusing on international healthcare system redesign. He recently served as the Chief Operating Officer for AgeCare, a private senior care and housing company with 10 sites and over 1,800 beds across Canada.
Natalie Ku
Natalie has previously held senior positions such as CFO, COO, VP Finance, and Controller. She graduated from Simon Fraser University with a CPA, CMA, and a Bachelor of Business Administration. Outside of work, she enjoys travelling, trying new restaurants, and claiming to be a food connoisseur. Natalie is a passionate and caring leader who enjoys learning, developing people and teams, and establishing long-term relationships.
Angela Grottoli
Angela’s extensive background in the areas of operations and sales, asset management and partner relations, real estate operations, growth and integration, as well as acquisition and development make her the ideal person for the pivotal role of navigating Optima Living forward in its core pursuits: Excellence, People, Governance, and Growth.
Sharon Conway
Our Story
Our Roots
Optima Living took root in 2007, when our founders Karim Kassam and Farid F. Damji, two friends who loved and cared for the seniors in their lives, crossed paths while working at the provincial health authority. They began dreaming of a way to welcome other seniors into a different circle of care, one that truly honoured their own parents and grandparents, who had served as such sources of inspiration. Discovering their shared desire to give back to their community and shared passion for improving seniors’ well-being, Karim and Farid were soon jotting ideas on a restaurant napkin. These ideas evolved into Optima Living and inspired the logo you see here, with its joyful person under a sheltering roof. In 2015, Ali Shivji joined the Optima family as Principal. As part of this added capacity, the principals focused their efforts to grow in the Alberta market and increasingly investing in new innovations and developments.
Our North Star
Since then, our co-founders’ vision of a truly homelike place for seniors has grown into more than a dozen Optima Living communities serving hundreds of seniors and their families across Alberta and BC. At every decision-point and in every community, our North Star is this: Let us welcome you home. Home, where you’re safe. Home, where you’re respected. Home, where your voice is heard, your views matter, and you have freedom of choice.
Let us welcome you home: It’s our invitation to you. And it’s our North Star, guiding everything we do.
Our Grounding Principles
Optima’s mission, vision, and values support and point to this North Star.
Our mission: to provide an intimate, home-style living for seniors. You are the focus of everything we do.
Our vision: every person living in our communities feels at home. Here, you experience the best quality of life possible, and your voice is heard.
Our core values:
• We promise to respect you
• We promise to uphold your dignity
• We promise to work together with you and your persons of choice
• We promise to do the right thing
It’s All About You
Three key ingredients breathe life into our principles: people, place and community. At Optima Living, you’re surrounded by people who welcome you warmly and become your neighbours, friends and care partners. You’re in a place that feels like home, with opportunities to fill your days as you see fit and freedom to explore the neighbourhood. You’re an important part of a vibrant community, engaging in your choice of activities and living with purpose.
Our Chosen Privilege
At Optima Living, we are always on a mission to improve—to learn more about what it means for seniors to be at home in our communities. We reach out to knowledge leaders and community partners who help us offer all the ingredients for healthy, active and fulfilling days. We use our expertise and what we learn from knowledge partners, including the University of Alberta and the University of Manitoba, to incorporate the latest research into your care and advocate for your well-being as needs arise.
Everyone at Optima Living understands the honour and responsibility that comes with serving seniors and their families. Our chosen privilege is to offer not just care but also peace of mind—to “walk with” rather than merely “do for” the seniors who live with us. Whatever your journey, when you join an Optima Living community, you’ve come home.
“We are absolutely committed to making a positive difference in the lives of seniors. For us, that’s the most meaningful work we can do. We believe that if we do right by seniors, then everything else will fall into place.” – Farid F. Damji