In Canada the Active & Safe Routes to School program is managed at the provincial level by autonomous organizations. The organizations listed above have come together to form the Canadian Safe Routes to School partnership.
Alberta
Alberta celebrates International Walk to School days annually and has been encouraging students to walk or bike to school since 2001. Active & Safe Routes to School programs in Alberta is coordinated by SHAPE (Safe Healthy Active People Everywhere).
Coordinator is Bev Esslinger and you can contact us or register for IWALK through our website at www.shapeab.com.
Manitoba
Active and Safe Routes to School in Manitoba is a program of Resource Conservation Manitoba. ASRTS encourages the use of active transportation for health, a clean environment and safe community.
Current contact person: Jackie Avent, Active & Safe Routes to School Coordinator - Manitoba
Nova Scotia
Active & Safe Routes to School (ASRTS) in Nova Scotia encourages more children, youth and their families to use active transportation – such as walking and cycling – for the environment, physical activity and traffic safety.
Active & Safe Routes to School is coordinated in Nova Scotia by the Ecology Action Centre in partnership with the Nova Scotia Department of Health Promotion and Protection as part of the Active Kids Healthy Kids Initiative.
Contact us in Nova Scotia through our website at http://www.ecologyaction.ca/asrts.
Ontario
Ontario has celebrated IWALK Day since its inception. We encourage schools and communities to celebrate for the entire month.
The Active & Safe Routes to School program has been active in Ontario since 1996 where we started with three schools in Toronto. The program has expanded annually and now reaches approximately 2,500 elementary schools. We have developed resources for High Schools to encourage senior students to get active in their communities.
Our resources for IWALK and our Active & Safe Routes to School program can be viewed and downloaded at http://www.saferoutestoschool.ca and http://www.ywalk.ca. Enquiries about our program can be directed to info@saferoutestoschool.ca.
Current contact person: Jacky Kennedy, Director, Walking Programs
Quebec
ON THE MOVE TO SCHOOL!
Rediscover the fun of active transportation
For fitness and the environment
Kids learn to walk long before they master the alphabet. So walking or cycling to school should be child’s play! And should be encouraged: kids who walk or bike to school get used to exercising every day. Yet less than four out of ten students in Greater Montreal rely on active transportation—walking, cycling or in-line skating—to get to school.
To help reverse the trend toward greater inactivity among children in Quebec and to reduce the use of the family car as a school shuttle, Vélo Québec launched the “On the move to school!” program in October 2005.
Started as a pilot project in eight schools, the program is now active in many regions of Quebec. By 2015, “On the move to school” will be deployed across the province of Quebec.
Whether or not your school is participating in the program, we encourage you to participate in the International Walk to School Month, and also, browse through our website, which provides tools designed to get things moving at school.
We are well aware that changing habits takes effort, but encouraging active transportation is an essential effort that will benefit you and your family. And you can count on having some fun too!
Current contact person: Annick St-Denis, Active Transportation Director
Learn more at www.velo.qc.ca/monecole
Safe Kids
Safe Kids Canada is launching “Canada’s Favorite Crossing Guard Contest” in late September. The contest will run from Sept. 29-Nov. 3, 2008. Students, teachers and parents across Canada are invited to nominate their favorite crossing guard. Starting September 29, contest information and nomination forms are available on Safe Kids Canada’s Web site at www.safekidscanada.ca. Winners will be announced on Nov. 17, 2008.
