BC Parks Foundation

A New PaRx Partner is Making it Easier to get Outside

April 10, 2024

by BC Parks Foundation in Healthy By Nature

A New PaRx Partner is Making it Easier to get Outside and get Healthy

PaRx, Canada’s nature prescription program, has partnered with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) to help people improve their physical and mental health.

TRCA is offering everyone with a PaRx prescription 20% off their membership pass to enjoy activities ranging from cross country skiing to camping, geocaching to disc golf, hiking to horseback riding, and swimming to ziplining.

“We are proud to partner with PaRx to help provide access to our wide range of beautiful natural spaces, where people can spend time and benefit from a boost in physical and mental health,” says Richard Ubbens, Director, Conservation Parks and Lands at TRCA.

“Growing up, spending time outside in the parks and green spaces of the Toronto region was incredibly important for my own health and wellbeing,” says Dr. Melissa Lem, PaRx Director. “I'm excited to see how our new collaboration will make life better and healthier for thousands of families across the GTA.”

TRCA’s jurisdiction includes nine watersheds and their Lake Ontario shorelines, representing almost five million people, approximately 10% of Canada’s population. Connecting people to nature helps build resilient communities that support conservation.

“This is a critical decade for reversing climate change and biodiversity loss, as well as tackling mental health and chronic disease,” says Andy Day, CEO of the BC Parks Foundation. “Our goal is to connect families to nature in a deep, consistent and meaningful way. Studies show that a connection to nature deepens one’s desire to protect it, as well as benefiting one’s own mental and physical health.”

Nature is becoming the fourth pillar of health, just as important for staying healthy as diet, exercise and good sleep. By providing better access to nature through innovative collaborations with trusted organizations like the TRCA, PaRx is improving both personal and planetary health, one prescription at a time.