Standing Committee on Health

Comité permanent de la santé

For immediate release

Ottawa, June 17, 2019 -

Bill Casey, Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health, presented the Committee’s 27th report today entitled, Get Canada’s Youth Moving!

The Committee undertook a study on the level of fitness and physical activity of Canadian youth in response to a motion tabled in the House of Commons by Mr. Kyle Peterson, M.P. for Newmarket—Aurora.

In presenting the report in the House, Mr. Casey explained that the activity levels of today’s youth fall far below the recommended guidelines. Mr. Casey said “I would like to thank the Member for Newmarket—Aurora for his advocacy on this subject. As a committee, we learned that we must do more to encourage youth to participate more in physical activity. We hope that this report will be a call to action for all levels of government to invest in ensuring that youth have ample opportunities to access physical activity.”

The Committee’s report reflects expert testimony that it heard during meetings on 27 and 28 May 2019. In addition to hearing from the motion’s sponsor, Mr. Peterson, the Committee also heard from officials from the Public Health Agency of Canada as well as representatives from ParticipACTION, the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada and Physical and Health Education (PHE) Canada, the Canadian School Boards Association, and Sport for Life Society.

Witnesses underlined the critical role that physical activity plays in a healthy lifestyle, but that Canada’s children and youth are spending too much time being sedentary, which includes time spent watching television or using devices such as cell phones, tablets and laptops. Experts emphasized the need for young Canadians to get into the habit of being active as they are likely to maintain this good habit throughout their lives.

The Committee makes six recommendations to the federal government with the goal of facilitating and encouraging Canada’s young people to get active. The Committee recommends:

• Appointing a physical activity champion for youth;
• Ensuring the implementation of the pan-Canadian action plan to increase physical activity;
• Reporting annually on the status of the action plan;
• Ensuring sustainable funding for developing and promoting physical activity guidelines;
• Introducing public awareness campaigns to promote the benefits of physical fitness; and
• Promoting the availability of federal funds for active transportation projects.