Sara Hodson is president of the Fitness Industry Council of Canada.
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Many people reading this are not as active as they should be, and are unable to figure out how to get started in spite of the fact there are hundreds of coaches and trainers and warm and welcoming fitness spaces ready to help them take that first step.Īny barrier, like an unnecessary provincial sales tax, will put a red stop sign on their road to wellness. The science of behaviour change says that there are many steps we need to take to move from inactive to active. This has nothing to do with the service and the product we offer: Health is wealth and Canadians know that they feel better when they exercise and take care of themselves. The Canadian fitness industry is only now getting on its feet again various businesses report only being at about 60 per cent of pre-pandemic membership levels. In 2012, researchers at Queen’s University estimated that physical inactivity cost the Canadian government $6.8 billion annually from the direct costs of treating preventable chronic conditions and indirect costs such as loss of labour and disability claims.Īccording to research presented to the House of Commons, every dollar spent on physical activity saves the government $6 in treating chronic illness. Even prior to COVID-19, it had reached “pandemic” levels. Physical inactivity is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. It will keep people out of gyms and in the long run will create an even larger health-care deficit, deepening the physical and mental health crisis caused by inactivity. This proposed tax by the Saskatchewan government goes against everything we are fighting for, and it goes against logic and reason. The Fitness Industry Council is arguing at the federal and provincial levels for the opposite of this tax: We are lobbying for gym memberships to be made tax deductible, and in British Columbia and Alberta discussions are focused on ways to financially incentivize people back into gyms. We already know that more than half of Canadians are inactive and we have become even more sedentary since the pandemic began. We also fear other provinces will take note and try to put it into future budgets.įitness and wellness businesses are an essential part of the health-care solution, particularly coming out of the past few years. The sales tax now is a shortsighted cash grab, and many within the fitness industry believe that business owners will absorb the cost instead of passing it on to members. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Immediately following, the federal government provided $2 billion to the provinces to address this backlog. The province claimed that the money raised would address the health deficit and surgical backlog caused by COVID-19. We should not be imposing a tax on health.
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The media was full of gym owners arguing that exercise is essential for our physical and mental health. When the province announced the proposed provincial sales tax on gyms, the Fitness Industry Council, gyms across the country and the public expressed outrage. The pandemic already put enough barricades at our doors.
We need to open our doors wider, not put more barricades in front of them. Going to a gym isn’t a one-off ticket it is an investment in our physical and mental health. This will be a reality facing many people in Saskatchewan this fall if the government’s proposed sales tax is not reversed, and it will set a precedent we simply cannot accept in Canada.Įxercise and the gym are not frivolous expenses, and should not be roped in with rodeos and casinos. Piling onto the other barriers you have in your life that have prevented you from taking that first step - not enough time, not enough motivation … now, an additional tax. You read a story: The government will be implementing a six per cent tax on gym memberships as of October 2022. You know you should get into a routine of exercising more, but you can’t seem to get started for many reasons.
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