The Facts are In. Now What?

We woke up this morning to more bad news about the health of Canada’s children and youth.  Every major paper across the country carried one message:  88% of school-aged kids are failing to meet the recommended minimum of 90 minutes of physical activity each day.  The problem begins with pre-schoolers, we’re told.  The headline in [...]

The New Cartierville YMCA

Today, the community of Ahuntsic-Cartierville opened the doors of its new YMCA.  Founded in 1906, it is one of Montréal’s oldest neighbourhoods and now home to a very diverse population (including many newcomers from Algeria, Morocco and Haiti who represent 30% of the total.)  Thanks to a creative partnership between the City of Montréal and [...]

Introducing Laura Palmer Korn

It is my pleasure to introduce YMCA Canada’s new Senior Vice President for Federation Strategy: Laura Palmer Korn.  Like many Canadians, Laura first connected with the YMCA as a youth leader, swim instructor and camp counselor.  Her YMCA career began in 1972 with the YMCA of Greater Toronto as a coordinator for child, youth and [...]

Day 100

En route home from the NAYDO conference in North Carolina last weekend, I marked my 100th day at YMCA Canada.  This milestone is only important in so far as it reminds me that it is time to give you a report on the five priorities outlined at the start of the year.   We have [...]

Where Did Community Go?

With this question, the YMCA of Greater Vancouver has launched a powerful conversation about community and why it matters.  You’ll want to read the article in today’s Globe and Mail that tells the story of this exciting multi-media campaign, and to check out the website that is already engaging people from around the world.  But [...]