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Learn more about BCAHL and healthy living through our blogs, press releases, podcasts episodes, and webinars.

Why not start the new school year with a New Year’s resolution?
In the article, #20ReasonstoBike: Your kids will thank you for it, HUB Cycling’s Jel Kocmaruk cited a 2016 parent survey which showed that only 25% of Canadian children walk or bike to school, while 58% are driven. In turn, the 2018 ParticipACTION Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth[1] gave Canadian youth a…
Come as You Are – Reconnecting Disengaged Youth with Physical Activity
On May 23rd, BCAHL hosted a webinar on new approaches to increase youth participation in physical activity. The teen years are a time when kids increasingly withdraw from sports and physical activity. For some youth, the barriers to participation are more difficult to overcome and motivation is a challenge for them and for those that…
More Kids Need to Move More Often to Boost Brain Health
BC’s Physical Activity and Health Collaborative supports findings in the 2018 ParticipACTION Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth that links brain health with regular physical activity Only 35 per cent of 5- to 17-year-olds and 62 per cent of 3- to 4-year-olds are getting the recommended physical activity levels for their age group,…
BCAHL Announces New Executive Director, Rita Koutsodimos and Acknowledges Outgoing Mary Collins
“The Board of Directors wishes to thank Mary Collins for her leadership and the contributions she made to the BC Alliance for Healthy Living over the past decade” announced Shannon Turner, Chair of BCAHL and Executive Director, Public Health Association of BC. “After accepting Mary’s resignation, the Board established a Search Committee which undertook a…
HandyDART Advocate Urges Improvements for Riders with ‘No Other Options’
Gary Brown is a regular HandyDART rider who has lived in Burnaby for 32 years, he used to work for Southern Rail, a job he loved, but that all changed in 1997. “I was diagnosed with MS in ’97, I tried to keep on working and would have stayed until I was 65 but I…
Hashing it Out: Can We Learn About Cannabis From What We Know About Alcohol?
On October 25th, BCAHL hosted a webinar on the parallels between alcohol and cannabis. Over the last four years, the policy environment for alcohol and cannabis has undergone some massive changes. Since 2013, when the BC government released its Liquor Policy Review, we have seen a relaxation of regulations on alcohol – which has really…
Riding a Bike Gave Her Independence, Freedom and Health
Martia made quite the impression in Kelowna this year – pedaling around town with a big clunky air-cast on her left foot! Her voice shakes as she tells me her story but as we talk (and laugh!), it becomes clear that she is unwavering in her conviction that a bike is “not just a toy”…
Hashing it Out: Can We Learn About Cannabis From What We Know About Alcohol?
On October 25th, BCAHL hosted a webinar on the parallels between alcohol and cannabis. Over the last four years, the policy environment for alcohol and cannabis has undergone some massive changes. Since 2013, when the BC government released its Liquor Policy Review, we have seen a relaxation of regulations on alcohol – which has really…
Walk this Way: How School Safety Zones Make Space for Active Kids
Last week, alarm over the death of a pedestrian at an intersection near her school of 500 students prompted Sue Groesbeck, the Head of Stratford Hall to go public about her concerns. She wants the area to be declared a school zone and some basic safety supports, including a 30km/hour speed limit, an illuminated cross-walk…
“Terrified” Kelowna Resident has Advice to Make Streets More Bike Friendly for Women
Kelsey Sheppy is enthusiastic about living an active lifestyle. She balances a busy work life at RE/MAX of Western Canada head office with a busy home life, raising her two teenaged step-kids, walking her two Yorkies and running half-marathons. But there is one activity that, up until this year, has always terrified her…riding a bike.…
Why don’t people in small towns walk or bike anymore?
I grew up in a small city of 15,000 people and it was just natural to walk or bike anywhere I wanted to go – nothing was far away and it was an enjoyable way to get around. Fast forward a couple decades and what we see today is lower rates of walking and biking…
Announcing our new name: BC Alliance for Healthy Living Society
Guess what?! We’ve got a new name! The organization you know as the BC Healthy Living Alliance is now the BC Alliance for Healthy Living Society (BCAHL). On May 31, 2017, members voted to incorporate as a society and on June 1st it became official. The change was made to address internal operational issues. But,…