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News and Updates

  • Spring Splash Worskhop - Ottawa May 22, 2008
    Parks and Recreation Ontario is pleased to offer Spring Splash: Eastern Ontario’s Aquatic and Recreation Workshop – Thursday May 22, 2008 at the Walter Baker Sports Complex in Ottawa. This one day workshop is filled with great sessions and dynamic speakers! For more information and to register, please click here. Deadline for registration is May 15th.

    Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Julie Auchterlonie at Julie.Auchterlonie@ottawa.ca; Renee Richard at Renee.Richard@ottawa.ca; or Nathalie Vallieres-Loy at nvallier@uottawa.ca.

  • PRO offers workshops to help enhance volunteer programs
    Parks and Recreation Ontario in collaboration with Volunteer Canada and PAVR-O are offering a series of workshops that offer practical strategies to enhance municipal support for your volunteer program. The workshop will lead you through the Municipal Toolkit and other valuable resources that will help you build a strong volunteer program. The workshops will take place during May in Belleville (May 22), Norwich (May 21), Sudbury (May 26) and Welland (June 9). You can click on the locations to download more information and a registration form.

  • PRO Aquatics Conference and Call for Presenters
    The 2008 Parks and Recreation Ontario Aquatics Conference is taking place November 5 – 7, 2008 at Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, Ontario and the PRO Aquatics Conference Committee is seeking to recruit presenters for this annual event. We are pleased to offer an online application and information package. Please click here or visit www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=iX38Luud5h0JML0ERHYk3w_3d_3d for information on session topics and general information and to complete the application form.
    Please note the deadline for submissions is May 9th, 2008. Only selected applicants will be notified on or before May 30th, 2008 for their participation in the conference.

  • Conflict Communication and Building Better Children Workshops in Ottawa and Mississauga
    Renowned expert on recreation, camp and education, Michael Brandwein will present a series of workshops on conflict communication and building better children. The workshops take place in Ottawa on May 13 and Mississauga on May 14. Click on the city names to download more information and a registration form. These workshops will benefit parks and recreation, Boys and Girls Club, YMCA, supervisors, volunteers, program staff and leaders from community groups. You'll receive practical tools and techniques to improve your skills in working with children and youth.


  • SummerActive 2008 - May 8 to June 20, 2008
    Help make Ontario the most SummerActive province in Canada! Take up the SummerActive Challenge in your community, school or workplace and have a chance to win great prizes. Click here to visit the PRO SummerActive Challenge page, or visit www.summeractive.ca to learn more about the SummerActive campaign across Canada.

More News from PRO


Reaching for the Top Hits the Mark for Healthy Children and Youth
In March, Dr. Kellie Leitch released her report on the health of Canada's Children and Youth. Parks and Recreation Ontario (PRO) congratulates Dr. Kellie Leitch, the Advisor on Healthy Children and Youth, for her comprehensive report “Reaching for the Top,” an initiative commissioned by the Federal Government.   PRO fully supports the recommendations in Dr. Leitch’s report, and calls on all orders of government to work with community recreation providers to implement those recommendations. Read more about the report in a press release issued by PRO.

To view a summary of Dr. Leitch's report, please visit the Health Canada Website, or to download the report, please click here.

Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal releases progress report
The Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal recently released a progress report on the ReNew Ontario program. Renew Ontario, introduced in May 2005, is a $30-billion plus, five-year plan to upgrade Ontario’s infrastructure. This is the first long-term infrastructure strategy in the province’s history. The report highlights investments by the McGuinty government. There is limited exposure for the investments made in sport and recreation infrastructure, which has raised concern at PRO. PRO will continue to advocate for dedicated sport and recreation infrastructure funding, especially leading up to the provincial election in October. To download the report, please visit: www.pir.gov.on.ca/English/infrastructure/renew/2007/index.html

Strengthening Voluntarism in Ontario Symposium
The successful Strengthening Voluntarism Symposium was held on June 8 and 9 in Toronto. To view resources to support voluntarism, please visit www.strengthenvoluntarism.on.ca.

Canada's Minister of Health makes announcement at the National Parks and Recreation Conference
The National Parks and Recreation Conference and Trade Show in Ottawa began on a high note on Wednesday September 26. In an address to the conference delegates at the opening ceremony, The Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Health and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario, made two announcements to promote more physical activity and healthy living among Canadians:

    1. Announcing a federal investment of $5.4 million over two years for 14 projects across Canada that promote physical activity, healthy eating and healthy weights including a contribution of $591,193 to The Canadian Parks and Recreation Association to implement Everybody Gets to Play a program that will create accessible recreation opportunities for children and youth living in low-income families, and to further address the healthy eating and physical activity needs of Aboriginals. The 14 projects, which will be delivered by non-government organizations in Canada, are national in-scope and provide innovative approaches to increasing physical activity and healthy living among Canadians including youth, families, and individuals with disabilities. Click here to read the entire release and click on the "backgrounder" box to view details of all the projects to be funded.

    2. Re-launching Canada’s Physical Activity Guides, which provide information on becoming more active and highlight the benefits that result from improving physical health.  Minister Clement reminded the delegates to promote Canada’s Physical Activity Guides (available for children, youth, adults and older adults), a free resource to help inform Canadians about the benefits of physical activity. To view the activity guides, click here.

In addition, Minister Clement highlighted some of the other initiatives the federal government has undertaken to promote physical activity and healthy eating, including:
-Introducing Canada’s first Children’s Fitness Tax Credit to help parents with the costs of their children’s organized physical activities;
-Revising the Canada Food Guide and released Canada's first ever Food Guide for First Nations, Inuit and Métis;
-Renewing funding for ParticipACTION, after funding had been terminated in 2001;
-Providing annual SummerActive and WinterActive programs in communities across Canada;
-Supporting the Concerned Children’s Advertisers’ Long Live Kids campaign.

Information on the Children's Fitness Tax Credit for Organizations

The Canada Revenue Agency has released additional information regarding implementation of the Children’s Fitness Tax Credit.  It has provided more detailed examples and information for organizations providing eligible programs to children. The document can be found at:  www.cra-arc.gc.ca/whatsnew/organi-e.html.  It has also created a simple checklist to establish eligibility.  This can be found at: www.cra-arc.gc.ca/whatsnew/checklist-e.html. To read the complete article, click here.

Please visit The Parks and Recreation Ontario FAQ Page for more information or the Lifestyle Information Network discussion group on the Children’s Fitness Tax Credit (www.lin.ca) to share information or post a question.

 

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Parks and Recreation Ontario
Suite 406, 1185 Eglinton Avenue East
Toronto, Ontario M3C 3C6 
Tel : (416) 426-7142
Fax : (416) 426-7371  
E-mail : pro@prontario.org
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