To whom it may concern,

We would like to thank you for taking the time to view this petition. On behalf of the students of the Fitness and Health Promotion Program at Algonquin College Ottawa, we are writing here to share our concerns about the Algonquin College Board planning to cut the in-person section of our program.

The largest component of our program includes a total of 220 hours of field placement (like a co-op) throughout four semesters, where we get hands-on experience with a plethora of niches in the fitness and health industry. These niches include, but are not limited to, personal training, group fitness, gym sales, sport-specific coaching, youth programs, and gym management. Compared to getting a certification over the weekend (the traditional way), or only learning online, our hands-on approach gives us a level of competence and confidence that online-only preparation does NOT provide. The in-person learning provides industry-level training in ethics, real-time cueing, and soft skills that cannot be taught through a screen; and even though the online program still contains in-person field placements, other in-person courses are what prepare us students to succeed during our field placements, and face a much less daunting leap into the industry after we graduate.

Other benefits us students receive from being enrolled into the in-person portion of this program is gaining a more well rounded range of strengths (such as confidently leading a group fitness class, cueing real-time during a personal training session, efficiently performing a fitness assessment, transferring anatomy knowledge to a specific client’s body, etc.). The immediate, real-time access to feedback from professors during our lab classes, compared to the days (sometimes weeks) long wait-times to receive feedback from professors online, allows for far less inconsistencies and flaws to be swept under the rug by the time us students actually need to apply our skills to the real world. The well-roundedness of these skills lead us to have more versatility in the industry, and through connections we make with classmates we meet in-person, we also develop the ability to synergize our services to neighbouring niches. The program also leads us to be more open-minded about which path we end up taking, and leaves us better prepared in case there is a higher demand for ambassadors in specific fitness and health niches, as industry trends and collective needs change.

With those points in mind, the importance of improving the fitness and health of our society should not be understated. Since 2020, we have seen an alarming worldwide increase in sedentary lifestyles, obesity, and mental illness, and a huge worldwide decrease in cardiovascular health, anaerobic fitness, and individuals that meet the national/international physical activity guidelines. These problems are all correlated, and have led to a sustained decrease in quality of life worldwide. There is a giant vacuum for fitness and health ambassadors to fill, and it is primarily on us, as fitness and health ambassadors, to increase ACCESSIBILITY and AWARENESS to living a fit and healthy lifestyle. With the points listed above so far, we hope it is made clear how much more competent and confident we are as fitness ambassadors when we take the program in-person, and how important it is we make as much of a difference as we can to a recently struggling society, especially with the abilities we gain through learning in-person.

As a final argument, we are fully aware that the provincial government is doing what they can to spread awareness of the benefits to living a fit and healthy lifestyle, but their budgeting does not reflect its importance, nor provide enough accessibility to the population. There has been little to no funding given to any part of the Ontario fitness industry, as the industry (especially smaller facilities) has been dealing with revenue losses since the start of the pandemic. On top of that, fitness memberships in Ontario are not treated as tax deductibles, even with doctors’ prescriptions. Even neighbouring provinces and territories, such as Québec, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Yukon have varying tax deductibles for fitness memberships. Not matching their words with their actions is the biggest remover of credibility for the Ontario government’s messages to live a fit and healthy lifestyle. It’s not that their message to live a fit and healthy lifestyle is wrong, but our society urgently needs more fitness ambassadors to both repeat that message, and match it with their actions.

In conclusion, as a unit, we, the students of the Fitness and Health Promotion Program, are asking the Algonquin College Board to reconsider their decision, and reevaluate the value of our program based on its present urgency, future relevance, long-term value, and role in the wellness sector of society. We understand the need to cut funding for many in-person programs, although this program is not one that should be solely online. If nothing else, we will encourage the Board to hybridize the program in the future, as some of the courses could be taken online, but many courses still have an irreplaceable in-person aspect. This would be for the greater good of both the college, and our society. Fitness and Health Promotion is not a legacy program, it is a relevant and necessary one for the present and future. Thank you for your time, and your involvement in spreading the word.

Kindly,

The Algonquin Fitness and Health Promotion students