Mayor Nancy Peckford says North Grenville is “neck and neck” with two other communities in the standings for ParticipACTION’s “Canada’s Most Active Community” challenge.
The contest sees residents of cities and municipalities across the country logging their physical activity throughout the month of June. The winning community is the one that spends the most time exercising.
“For the first two weeks, we were in the number one spot nationally,” Peckford says. “In the last week or so, we’ve been duking it out with Edmonton, Alberta, and Red Deer, Alberta.”
As of Wednesday morning, North Grenville is in the lead nationally. Peckford also says we’ve been the number one community in Ontario since the start of the contest.
Our community won last year, and received $100,000 in prize money, which went towards improving outdoor recreation facilities in some rural parts of North Grenville.
According to Peckford, council has a few ideas in mind for where any prize money the municipality wins this year could go.
“We would definitely look at some other ways that we could ensure inclusivity when it comes to our local parks,” she says.
“Some [residents] already have suggested that we have accessible play equipment for kids of all abilities, and that we ensure that they’re able to equally benefit.”
If you’re interested in taking part in the contest, Peckford says you can register and log your exercise minutes in the ParticipACTION app until 11:59 PM on Thursday, June 30th.