Why Study Leisure and Recreation in Canada

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CHAPTER 1INTRODUCING LEISURE AND RECREATION IN
CANADIAN SOCIETY

• Why Study Leisure and Recreation in Canada?
• For Roy Ellis, Lloyd Minshall, Bob Secord, Cor
  Westland and Ray Wittenburg, leisure and
  recreation is an industry that
• considers community development,
• consists of volunteers,
• takes into consideration the needs and capacities
  of the entire human organism, and
• has unlimited potential.

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CHAPTER 1INTRODUCING LEISURE AND RECREATION IN
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• Why Study Leisure and Recreation in Canada?
• Leisure and recreation plays an important role in
  the development of the lives of individuals, the
  development of communities and the sustainability
  of healthy communities.

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CHAPTER 1INTRODUCING LEISURE AND RECREATION IN
CANADIAN SOCIETY

• Why Study Leisure and Recreation in Canada?
• Leisure and recreation is important for the
  individual, for groups of individuals and for
  society as a whole.

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CHAPTER 1INTRODUCING LEISURE AND RECREATION IN
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• Why Study Leisure and Recreation in Canada?
• Reasons why one should study leisure and
  recreation in Canada
• to better understand ourselves,
• to best address the leisure and recreation needs
  of ourselves and others,
• to improve our quality of life and the quality of
  life of our community
• for social reasons,
• to help us adjust to life stages and the
  lifecycle,
• to better understand the society we live in, and
• to make a valuable contribution to the leisure
  and recreation service industry and to society as
  a whole.

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CHAPTER 1INTRODUCING LEISURE AND RECREATION IN
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• Why Study Leisure and Recreation in Canada?
• Most people who study leisure and recreation do
  it as preparation for work, are researchers, or
  are academics.

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CHAPTER 1INTRODUCING LEISURE AND RECREATION IN
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• Why Study Leisure and Recreation in Canada?
• Leisure and recreation, just like public health
  and health care services, is a public good.

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CHAPTER 1INTRODUCING LEISURE AND RECREATION IN
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• Why Study Leisure and Recreation in Canada?
• The following nine propositions of leisure,
  recreation and health (Wharf Higgins, 1995
  24-28) provide ample justification as to why we
  should study leisure and recreation in Canada.
• Leisure and recreation practitioners, such as
  subsidized public recreation and
  non-discriminatory pricing and registration
  policies, contribute toward reducing inequities.
• Increasing the prevention of disease will be
  realized through public leisure and recreation
  services that offer all citizens opportunities
  for promoting their own physical and mental
  health.
• Leisure education and counselling and therapeutic
  recreation services are integral to enhancing the
  coping ability of people.
• Community recreation and leisure programs
  contribute towards promoting individual self-care
  and self-help practices.
• Public recreation encourages and facilitates the
  development of mutual aid and social support in
  the community.
• Leisure and recreation agencies take a leadership
  role in the creation of healthy environments.
• Leisure and recreation practitioners are
  important catalysts in fostering public
  participation in community life.
• As a local, decentralized and intersectoral
  service, recreation and leisure programs
  strengthen community health services.
• Through collaborative working relationships with
  other health and social services, leisure and
  recreation leaders are active participants in
  coordinating healthy public policy.

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CHAPTER 1INTRODUCING LEISURE AND RECREATION IN
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• Why Study Leisure and Recreation in Canada?
• The Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Recreation
  published The Benefits of Parks and Recreation A
  Catalogue in 1992. This catalogue depicts four
  types of benefits that may be gained through
  leisure and recreation experiences personal
  benefits, social benefits, economic benefits and
  environmental benefits.

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CHAPTER 1INTRODUCING LEISURE AND RECREATION IN
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• The Leisure and Recreation Service Industry
• In 1978 The Elora Prescription posited that the
  individual is her or his own best recreation
  resource - that is, our leisure and recreation
  lifestyle depends on personal choices.

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CHAPTER 1INTRODUCING LEISURE AND RECREATION IN
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• The Leisure and Recreation Service Industry
• The results of a Canadian national survey
  conducted by the Angus Reid Group of Winnipeg as
  presented by Harper, Neider and Godbey (1997)
  reveal that
• 57 of Canadians have the same or more free time
  as compared to the past,
• 83 of Canadians use local government parks and
  recreation services,
• 86 feel that their local parks provide them with
  benefits, and
• 86 of respondents believe that the absence of
  parks and recreation services would have an
  impact on them personally and on their community.

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CHAPTER 1INTRODUCING LEISURE AND RECREATION IN
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• The Leisure and Recreation Service Industry
• The promotion of all aspects of wellness is a
  major goal of the leisure and recreation service
  industry. Physical fitness, it can be said, is a
  major objective of leisure and recreation
  programs, while stress reduction and overall
  mental health are benefits pursued through
  leisure and recreation services and experiences
  (Karlis and Dawson, 1994).

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CHAPTER 1INTRODUCING LEISURE AND RECREATION IN
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• The Leisure and Recreation Service Industry
• Through education, leisure and recreation
  practitioners, administrators, professionals,
  academics and students may become more aware of
  means to address the issues of opportunity,
  accessibility and recognition while also playing
  leadership roles in incorporating these means in
  all the leisure and recreation service sectors.

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CHAPTER 1INTRODUCING LEISURE AND RECREATION IN
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• Directions of Leisure and Recreation Research in
  Canada
• In one of the first major leisure and recreation
  conferences held in Canada, the Conference on
  Leisure in Montmorency, Quebec, in 1969, Norman
  Pearson (1969 81) commented on the lack of
  leisure and recreation research in Canada,
  arguing that it is not enough to simply assume
  that the patterns found in the U.S.A. apply to
  Canada. Pearson (1969 81) went on to state
  that we urgently need, for Canada viewed as a
  whole, an inventory of the available and
  potential resources for leisure and recreation
  studies of the supplies of recreation resources,
  the demand for recreation, the economics of
  recreation, and of the problems relating all
  three to assure present and future generations
  the basic resources for whatever patterns of
  leisure use they may choose.

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CHAPTER 1INTRODUCING LEISURE AND RECREATION IN
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• Directions of Leisure and Recreation Research in
  Canada
• In her keynote address to delegates of the 7th
  Canadian Congress on Leisure Research on May 13,
  1999, Karla Henderson articulated that in the
  1990s and beyond leisure and recreation research
  needs to focus on the changer and the changed.

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CHAPTER 1INTRODUCING LEISURE AND RECREATION IN
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• Leisure and Recreation in Canadian Society
• Canadas rich culture, history, environment,
  outdoor opportunities, climate and geographical
  location all help in being determining factors
  for leisure and recreation in Canadian society.