Fact Sheet

Investing in Active and Safe Children and Youth  

News Release: Government of Canada Announces Injury Prevention Funding

Unintentional Injuries among Children and Youth in Canada

Sports and recreation-related injuries make up a significant proportion of unintentional injuries for children and youth up to age 19. In fact, 40% of child and youth injuries treated in Canadian emergency departments are sports and recreation-related. While the Government of Canada encourages Canada’s children and youth to become more active and live healthy lifestyles, it is also important to ensure their safety while being active. 

Through the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Active and Safe injury prevention initiative, the Government of Canada is investing $5 million over two years to support a number of community-based projects that empower Canadians to make safe choices when they get involved in sports and recreational activities. Today’s announcement of $195,000 will support the Active and Safe Kids Manitoba project to decrease sports and recreation-related injuries in children and youth 19 and under through community level action and partnerships; and the Safety Guidelines for Physical Activity and Sport project to decrease the incidence of school-based, extracurricular and community sport-related injury among children and youth by improving the injury prevention expertise of teachers, coaches and volunteers.

Active and Safe Participation in Sports and Recreation

Active and Safe Kids Manitoba is led by Recreation Connections Manitoba in partnership with the Sport Medicine and Science Council of Manitoba, Directorat de l’activité sportive du Manitoba,  the injury prevention program of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority - IMPACT, the Province of Manitoba, Winnipeg in motion, the Lifesaving Society, and the Canadian Red Cross.

The project will:

• Develop an awareness campaign with injury prevention strategies, using two toolkits - one for community organizations and another for families. The toolkits will promote practical and innovative activities designed to both raise awareness and provide guidance on how to implement injury prevention strategies. 

Safety Guidelines for Physical Activity and Sport is led by Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association (ASAA) in partnership with Alberta Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association, Alberta Centre for Injury Control and Research, Physical and Health Education Canada (commonly known as PHE Canada), School Sport Canada, and several provincial and territorial school sport associations including Manitoba High Schools’ Athletic Association.  Cenovus Energy, an Alberta-based oil company, has committed funds to support the development of this and other online courses the ASAA is creating.

The project will:

• Develop an online training course based on the existing Safety Guidelines for Secondary Interschool Athletics, andthe Safety Guidelines for Physical Activity in Alberta Schools.  This web-based, interactive course will encourage sport safety for a wide variety of different sports, designed for teachers and coaches of children ages five to 19.