COMMUNITY WELLNESS AND SAFETY

Commitment 4.3.9 – We will develop and implement a Northwest Territories physical activity strategy for all residents to improve health and fitness.

Background:

Each year in Canada, more than two-thirds of deaths result from four groups of chronic diseases – cardiovascular, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and respiratory.  These chronic diseases share common preventable risk factors including physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, and tobacco use.

The GNWT health budget is now over $400 million annually (25%).  A significant portion of these expenditures can be attributed to services that are addressing preventable conditions such as physical inactivity.

In 2009, Active Healthy Kids Canada reported that up to 85 percent of NWT youth are not physically active enough.

The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA) is developing the NWT Physical Activity Strategy (Milestone 1). This strategy will be based on the nationally accepted Active Canada 20/20, an emerging Pan-Canadian Physical Activity Strategy which was presented to Federal – Provincial/ Territorial Ministers in July 2017, the best scientific information available, and solutions made in the NWT that are being effectively implemented across the Territories.  A full consultation process will be included in the development of the strategy.

The NWT Physical Strategy is to be released by the end of 2018 (Milestone 2) and will be

implemented in early 2019 (Milestone 3).

Links to Other Governments Activities:

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For more information about this initiative, please contact the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs.