SPORT AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY INVESTMENT

BACKGROUNDER FOR KEY MESSAGE 1

 

INVEST IN SPORT AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY – The best medicine when it comes to improving the health of Canadians and cutting healthcare costs.

 

•        People who are physically active on a regular basis:

 

• Are less likely to be obese or to suffer from disease (e.g. cardiovascular disease, cancer – in particular breast and colon cancer, Type 2 diabetes, and osteoporosis).
  
  
• Enhance their mental health – through higher self-esteem; less stress, anxiety, and depression; and access through sport to relationships, friends, and support that foster emotional health.
  
  
• Enjoy healthier aging – with less chronic disease, better balance/coordination (preventing falls and hospitalization), improved memory and learning, and less risk from Alzheimer’s and strokes.

 

•        Physical inactivity is one cause of obesity and 90 percent of Canadian children and youth are not meeting recommended physical activity levels. Even small increases in physical activity can help overweight children and youth to avoid some of obesity’s most damaging health effects.

 

•        Physical inactivity costs Canadians $1.6 billion in health care costs and $3.7 billion annually in broader social and economic costs.  Increasing physical activity levels by just 10 percent would save Canadians over $150 million annually in health care costs alone.

 

•        Investing in sport and physical activity is a cost-effective way to improve health and cut unnecessary health care costs.

 

 

WHAT YOU CAN ASK YOUR CANDIDATES TO DO:

 

1.     Introduce a Canadian Sport and Physical Activity Strategy – developed with partners from all sectors that would set clear national sport participation and physical activity targets, outline strategies built on successful Canadian and international approaches, and mobilize investments accordingly.

 

2.     Increase investment in prevention – through programs that take aim at inactivity and obesity among Canadians of all ages and abilities, but starting with school and community-based programs that ensure every child in Canada has the fundamental skills and physical literacy to be active for life.

 

3.     Commit to a Minister for Sport and Physical Activity – by promoting Canada’s current Minister of State for Sport into a full Minister with a combined sport and physical activity mandate and the resources to deliver on a comprehensive Canadian Sport and Physical Activity Strategy.

 

4.     Introduce innovative tax measures – that can help increase sport participation, such as making community sport organizations eligible for charitable status and transforming the current tax credit for child and youth sport participation into a refundable credit so that more families benefit.

 

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