New program aims to get employees on their feet

VANCOUVER – A program to get workers up and moving while on the job has rolled out in British Columbia, and it will be stretching the legs of employees across Canada by the fall.

UPnGO with ParticipACTION was launched Monday by federal Health Minister Jane Philpott, B.C.’s Minister of Health Terry Lake and Elio Antunes, president and CEO of ParticipACTION.

“So many of us struggle to the find time to exercise,” Philpott said in a news release.

“This is why I am excited about the creative and sustainable strategies UPnGO with ParticipACTION offers Canadians to incorporate physical activity into their everyday work lives.”

Participants receive points redeemable online for health products if they meet personal goals and complete set challenges.

“UPnGO offers employees fitness tracking, personal goal-setting, team challenges and rewards, all delivered through a mobile and web platform,” Antunes said.

“We are making sitting less and moving more expected and accepted in Canadian workplaces.”

The Public Health Agency of Canada and B.C.’s Ministry of Health are among several partners investing in the $7.5-million project.

The Public Health Agency of Canada will kick in $2.5 million over three years, and B.C.’s Provincial Health Services Authority will allocate $3.8 million over the same period.

Other partners include the Ontario Trillium Foundation and biopharmaceutical company Astra Zeneca.

Benefits of workplace physical activity include increased productivity, creativity and job performance, but a ParticipACTION survey finds 48 per cent of British Columbians worry they spend too much time sitting at work.

UPnGO is being piloted in five BC workplaces, including TELUS, the City of Richmond, the University of British Columbia, Providence Healthcare and AutoTRADER.