Active Adult magazine, published by Homes Publishing, has rebranded as Active Life. The change continues the mag's shift toward heavier lifestyle content for its boomer readership.

Launched as a twice-yearly digest 18 years ago, Active originally targeted adult-lifestyle community developers, akin to the publisher's other developer titles like Homes Magazine, Condo Life and Reno & Decor. Around 2007, it started its transformation into a standard-sized lifestyle magazine published six times a year.


In January 2012, the mag began distributing half of its 100,000 run through The Globe and Mail's home delivery, targeting specific zones in Toronto's 416 area. Editor Katherine Moore said this had a "big impact," leading to increased feedback from the right readers.

Moore calls the Active Life name "a little more reaffirming" than Active Adult, a small but significant change. Moore joined the staff in 2000 and has since entered the age range of her targeted readership. Noticing that she and her mostly-boomer teammates continue to lead very active lives has influenced the title's editorial direction. "Our publisher is well into his 60s and he plays basketball and baseball. We took our cue from that," she said.

As Active Life, the magazine will feature original photos of real people on the cover, ending the previous practice of using stock photos. "In the last year it was quite a struggle not to duplicate even our own advertisers' photos, which of course was a nightmare," she explained. "You end up going out of your photo subscription base to find something unique enough, and end up paying the same Getty-level prices that you would have paid if you paid for a photoshoot," she said.

As well, new supplements will launch this year, including 'Q Life' for barbecue enthusiasts, and 'Garden Life' for readers with green thumbs. The 'Active Woman' section, headed by associate publisher Jayne Hobbs, has been renamed 'Body & Soul' and will now include content for men.