New Canadian initiative aims to get kids ‘Active at School’

Most parents think kids should have daily physical activity at school. Actually, more than 85 percent, according to a 2013 survey by Sklar Wilton and Associates. But the school systems in Canada are already stretched and the kids end up being inactive.

So Canadian Tire is leading more than 60 organizations in the Active at School campaign. The goal of the participating organizations is to lead the effort in ensuring that kids get one hour of daily, quality physical activity at school.

Active for Life is proud to be part of the initiative. We are joined by the 60 Minute Kids’ Club, CBC Sports, Participaction, PHE Canada, The Sandbox Project, and even the Canadian Football League (CFL) and National Hockey League (NHL). There are many others.

“We must help our children be more active at school but we must also help our schools and teachers who are doing great work with the resources they have,” said Stephen Wetmore, Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Tire Corporation. “We rely on our schools and teachers to do so much. Those companies and organizations that have the resources and tools to help our school system get our kids more active need to step forward and make a difference.”

“We’re going to reach out to sit down with every Premier and Minister of Education in the next 90 days to identify ways we can inject more activity into schools,” he continued. “We will learn about the barriers that are unique to each region – and we’re going to offer the resources of this incredibly powerful group to help overcome those barriers.”