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Fitness: Putting a price tag on physical activity isn’t easy

Posted On December 11, 2022

Life Health Diet & Fitness

Governments and citizens alike need to consider the state of a bank account before investing in physical activity, but they also need to consider the cost of not exercising.

Members of Montreal’s Italian community play bocce at the Club de Bocce l’Acadie on Thursday, November 17, 2022. Photo by Allen McInnis /Montreal Gazette

How much should we invest in an active lifestyle?  

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For the Montreal borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville, the $211,000 annual rent on the centre where 450 seniors play bocce is too much. A few months ago, borough mayor Émilie Thuillier informed the community of active older adults that the lease wouldn’t be renewed. Instead, authorities offered to rent space in a church basement, but with no room for bocce, suggesting the group engage in sedentary activities like bingo and cards.  

“We want to do sports. We don’t want to play cards,” said 86-year-old club president Joe Stinziani when interviewed by the Montreal Gazette in October.

Putting a price tag on physical activity isn’t easy, despite the almost universal opinion by health and wellness professionals that the return on investment is worth it. But it’s a calculation made by all levels of government. Provincial and federal agencies grapple not only with how much money to invest in recreation and sport facilities, but how much taxpayer money should be earmarked for sport organizations and national and provincial parks, and whether Canadians should earn tax breaks in return for maintaining an active lifestyle.

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According to a 2019 ParticipACTION report, federal, provincial and territorial funding for physical activity programming had remained largely static over the previous several years, with slightly under 10 per cent of budgets posting a decrease, 25 per cent showing an increase and the balance remaining…

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