Salisbury, N.B., looks to be Canada’s most active community

The small town of Salisbury, N.B., is getting active and showing Canada just what it’s made of.

As part of a country-wide challenge, Salisbury is taking part in ParticipACTION for the entire month of June.

It challenges the entire community to track all minutes of physical activity.

“In 2022, Salisbury was named New Brunswick’s most active community. We were just shy of that national title and that’s what we’re aiming for this year,” said CAO Austin Henderson.

“We’re encouraging residents to get out, move, get active. It can be anything from gardening, cleaning, cooking, working out, going for walks to track those minutes on the ParticipACTION app.”

Last year’s province-wide win brought in $15,000, but Henderson says if the community is able to run into first spot on the national scale, the prize is $100,000.

He says that money will be added to last year’s prize money, giving the community a lot of options when it comes to spending it.

“I have a big suspicion, however, that the top want amongst the community will go towards trail connectivity. We have a couple of trails that have always seemed to be on the list of wants, but have never actually gotten done so this would go a really long way to get those finished and that’s a huge want amongst our community members,” he said.

In order to participate, residents have to download the ParticipACTION app and register with a Salisbury postal code.

Henderson says that currently the town is sitting first provincially and fourth nationally.

“For Salisbury to be number four nationally speaks volumes to how active our community is,” he said.

To help encourage the entire community, the town is putting on free events throughout the entire month of June.

“I think it’s a lot more than just the prize, of course, and we see that in our community,” said Henderson.

“Our community is […] just very active so it’s obviously good for your physical health to get out and get moving. In Salisbury, we’re really lucky to have lots of natural trails, parks, playgrounds to do that, but it’s also good for your emotional health and overall wellbeing. So that’s really part of the challenge just to encourage Canadians, in communities all across the country, to get involved.”

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