The NWTRPA is an advocate for recreation and parks in the NWT. What does that mean? Well, the NWTRPA makes sure that the concerns of recreation leaders are heard by politicians and people working in government, and other organizations.
The NWTRPA is also the NWT’s representative for the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association, the Canadian Recreation Facilities Council, and the Canadian Trails Federation.
Quality after-school programs have the potential to enhance the health, well-being and development of children and youth in the NWT. For this reason, the NWTRPA has published two reports focused on the after-school time period. These reports increase the understanding of existing after-school programs, including populations served, activities, benefits, program duration, and expected program life and define the opportunities to address unmet program needs.
The NWTRPA is now working with after-school programmers, community leaders and territorial government officials to improve the supports offered to these important programs.
Trail development in the NWT is in its formative stages…with thousands of years of history of trail use. Thousands of kilometres of trails integrated into traditional life are now changing. Motorized transportation, recreation, tourism and competitive use, and urbanization are all changing how trails are developed, used and described.
The NWTRPA has been working to build support for developing a trails strategy to co-ordinate efforts to develop, use and promote trails.
Regular physical activity relieves stress, builds muscle strength, reduces disease and injury, improves cardiovascular health, and helps maintain healthy body weight. Current studies however, show that less than half of the NWT population participates in enough physical activity to maintain or improve their health. The 2011 NWT Health Status Report states that proportions of NWT residents 12 years and older who reported moderate or higher physical activity decreased from 54% to 41% since 2003.
Currently, several NWT groups and organizations in the sport and recreation sector are doing their best to help keep people active; however there is no overarching NWT specific guide.
For this reason, the NWTRPA has been initiating work on developing a NWT Physical Activity Strategy.
Downloads
The NWTRPA has been working with the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association to contribute towards the development of a National Recreation Agenda.
To find out more about the National Recreation agenda, visit this page.