Living

Benefits

Recreation and active living are essential to personal health – a key deteminant of health status!

Recreation and active living helps people live longer – adding up to two years to life expectancy.
Recreation and active living prolongs independent living for seniors by compressing the disease and impairment period typically associated with aging – keeping seniors vital and involved in community life.
Recreation, fitness, sports and active living significantly reduces the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke – the leading cause of death in Canada.
Recreation, fitness, sports, active living, parks and arts/culture all contribute to mental health – reducing stress, reducing depression and contributing to emotional/psychological well-being.
Recreation, fitness, sports, active living, parks and arts/culture all enhance overall health and well-being – critical to personal quality of life.
Recreation is a proven therapeutic tool utilized in hospitals, clinics and communities everywhere (physical recreation, sports, arts/culture) – helping to restore physical, mental and social capacities and abilities

Recreation is a key to balanced human development – helping Canadians reach for their potential

Recreation is essential to the development of our children and youth:
- We learn motor skills (physical) through play and sports.
- We learn social skills through play, and sports.
- We learn creativity through play and arts/cultural activity

We develop intellectual capacities and concepts through play – and many other life skills
Recreation provides the opportunity for adults to develop their full and holistic potential (physical, social, creative, intellectual and spiritual) – work only does so much.
In a society where life-long learning is essential – recreation and adult leisure learning provides exceptional opportunities.
Parks and natural environments have great spiritual meaning for many - and arts/culture is a significant way of exploring our spirituality.

Recreation and parks are essential to quality of life

Recreation, sports and arts/culture build self-esteem and positive self- image – foundations to personal quality of life.
Recreation, parks, fitness, sports and arts/culture enhance life satisfaction levels.
Recreation, parks, fitness, sports and arts/culture enhance perceived quality of life – for individuals, families and communities.
Recreation, sports and arts/culture nurtures growth, acquisition of life skills and independent living for those with a disability.

Recreation reduces self-destructive and anti-social behaviour

Recreation, sports and arts/culture reduce self-destructive behaviour and negative social activity in youth – an antidote to smoking, substance abuse, suicide and depression.
Recreation , sports and arts/culture reduce crime – building understanding between diverse cultures.
Recreation, sports and arts/culture can reduce racism – building understanding between diverse cultures.
Recreation reduces isolation, loneliness and alienation.

Recreation and parks build strong families and healthy communities

Families that play together – stay together. Children and youth remain connected; couples that share leisure interests are more likely to stay together.
Recreation provides safe, developmental opportunities for the latch-key child.
Recreation, sports and arts/culture produce leaders who serve their communities in many ways.
Recreation, sports and arts/culture build social skills and simulates participation in community life.
Recreation and parks are often the catalysts that build strong, self-sufficient communities (sports groups, arts guilds, adopt-a-park)
Culture helps people understand their neighbours, their history and their environment.
Recreation, parks, sports and arts/culture build pride in a community.

Pay Now or Pay Later! Recreation reduces health care, social service and police/justice costs!

Fitness and well-being reduces both the incidence and severity of illness and disability – lowering healthcare costs.
Recreation supports families – reducing costs of social service intervention and foster care.
Recreation reduces crime and social dysfunction – reducing police, justice and incarceration costs.

Recreation and parks are significant economic generators in your community!

Recreation, sports and fitness improves work performance – increased productivity, decreased absenteeism, decreased staff turnover, reduced "on the job" accidents.
Recreation, parks and arts/culture attract businesses to the community – prime economic development and relocation magnets.
Recreation, parks, sports and arts/culture are the attractions that draws tourism – the third largest an done of the fastest growing industries in the world today.
Recreation, parts, fitness, sports and arts/culture are significant employment generators on their own – providing many jobs.
Small investments in recreation, parks, sports and arts/culture often yield large economic returns – money generated by events, capital development and provision of ongoing services is spent several times in the community (the multiplier effect).
Parks and open spaces increase property value, and therefore tax revenue on adjacent land – many developers are automatically including parkland, golf courses, etc. as marketing features.

Parks, open space and natural areas are essential to ecological survival

Green spaces protect habitat, biodiversity and ecological integrity.
Green spaces improve air quality – removing carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and other pollutants from the air.
Outdoor recreation is one of the best approaches to environmental education – a key to long term sustainability.
Protecting land from development (as open space) mitigates against potential environmental disaster – flooding, slip zones, aquifer depletion.
Trail and pathway systems save energy and protect air quality by encouraging non-motorized transportation.
Arts/culture is one of the best ways of expressing the spirituality of the land, thereby encouraging stewardship ethics.