Monitoring cognitive functions as older adults move from independent to assisted living is of utmost importance with respect to care planning. To this end, we examined the utility of a 12- item, free and cued recall, selective reminding, memory task for assessing persons across levels of functioning. Using cross-sectional data from the Canadian Study of Health and Aging, it was observed that the 12-item Buschke memory test was well tolerated by participants regardless of their level of impairment. Further, various measures from the memory task differentiated among participants with different levels of impairment: Individuals living in the community performed better than those in institutions; individuals with no or mild functional impairment performed better than individuals with moderate or severe functional impairments; individuals with mild dementia performed better than those with moderate to severe dementia. Normative data are provided for this easily administered and well-tolerated memory measure. Key words: cognitive assessment, memory test, dementia, levels of impairment