In this study, we challenge recent apocalyptic rhetoric about idle, burdensome, and dependent older people. Our primary objective is to examine and compare the productive activities of older adults in both Korea and Canada using a broader definition of productivity that included household work. Another objective is to identify and compare the factors related to the participation of household work of older adults in both countries. In order to conduct a comparative culture study two data sets were used; one was the 1999 Survey of Time Use collected by Korean Statistics Office and the other was 1998 Survey of Time Use collected by Canadian Statistics Office. Many countries have been collected a time use survey and used to study labor, welfare, and culture. Total number of 17,730 Korean and 2,729 Canadian between when and 84 were included to analyze the data. It is clear from the results that older people engage in productive behaviors, particularly when the definition of activities is broadened to include unpaid work. However, it is also clear the productive contributions in terms of household work ale lower among older Koreans than among older Canadians.