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The Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW), housed within the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, has received the 2012 Parks and Recreation Ontario (PRO) President’s Award of Distinction.

The award was accepted by Margo Hilbrecht (pictured far right), CIW Senior Research Associate, at the recent PRO Educational Forum with more than 500 delegates in attendance.  

�ճ����Canadian Index of Wellbeing identifies, develops and publicizes statistical measures on wellbeing goals and outcomes Canadians seek as a nation.  In considering recipients for this year’s President’s Award, the Board of Directors of PRO reflected on the commitment of the CIW to improving and protecting quality of life across the country through innovative research to inform policy change. The Board also noted that the importance of recreation and parks for quality of life is recognized throughout the work of the CIW.

“As a professor in the Recreation and Leisure Studies programme, receiving an award from PRO is especially gratifying”, says Bryan Smale, Director of the CIW. “Like PRO, we at the CIW understand the critical role that recreation and leisure plays in enhancing the quality of lives of Canadians – that’s why it is a key component of the CIW.”

At the National Recreation Summit held in Alberta last October, recreation was recognized as a fundamental, core building block of vibrant communities and healthy people. It was at the Summit that the importance of the CIW was highlighted and identified as a leader in this process.

In October 2011, the CIW’s first composite index showed a modest 11% increase in national wellbeing for the fifteen year period starting in 1994. The Leisure and Culture domain–one of eight key areas measured by the Index–actually decreased by 3%, raising concerns about potential long-term impacts on citizens’ wellbeing.

The Honourable Roy J. Romanow, Chair of the CIW Advisory Board, points out that “over the past few years, we’ve seen Canadians become progressively more frustrated by what they see as a widening gap – a gap between citizen values and public policy; between what people believe in and what governments do; and between the world we envision and the one we actually live in. The CIW can help policy makers pay attention to the need to develop and provide meaningful venues and opportunities for participation in leisure and cultural activities which is so important to the wellbeing of individuals, communities, and Canadian society at large.”

For more information, visit the Canadian Index of Wellbeing���ǰ���.