PaRx supports new national event getting Canadians outdoors together

PaRx, Canada's national nature prescription program and an initiative of BC Parks Foundation, is supporting Everyone Outdoors Together, a new national event launched by the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association (CPRA) that aims to create an annual tradition encouraging people across Canada to spend time outdoors together.

The event will launch on July 18, coinciding with Parks Day, a fitting connection for PaRx. For the past several years, PaRx has marked Parks Day by encouraging physicians and other healthcare providers across Canada to lead walks in nature with their communities. Everyone Outdoors Together expands that tradition, inviting all Canadians to experience the health and wellbeing benefits of spending time outdoors together.

Taking place each year on the third Saturday in July, Everyone Outdoors Together encourages people from coast to coast to coast to step outside, connect with family, friends, neighbours, and nature, and participate in a shared national moment rooted in health, wellbeing, and community.

The event comes at a time when many Canadians are spending more time indoors, in front of screens, and experiencing growing social isolation. For PaRx, which helps healthcare professionals prescribe time in nature as part of patient care, the initiative reflects a growing recognition of nature's role in supporting human health and wellbeing.

Since launching in 2020, PaRx has helped healthcare professionals across Canada prescribe time in nature as part of patient care. An estimated 1.2 million Canadians have received nature prescriptions, helping them access the well-documented physical and mental health benefits of spending time outdoors.

"Everyone Outdoors Together is part of a broader cultural shift that recognizes nature as healthcare," says Jennie McCaffrey, Vice President of Health & Education for BC Parks Foundation. "The mental health benefits of nature are estimated to save the global economy approximately $6 trillion every year."

"Imagine if one evening a year, everyone in Canada stepped outdoors together. We would create a shared national moment rooted in our connection to the land," said Martin Sampson, CEO of the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association. "Everyone Outdoors Together is an opportunity to create a new Canadian tradition that helps strengthen our collective connection to nature, community, and wellbeing."

Activated by partners across Canada, including CPRA's provincial and territorial recreation and parks association members, Everyone Outdoors Together will come to life through community events, outdoor activities, and local gatherings in communities across the country. As part of the celebration, PaRx is partnering with Nature and Forest Therapy of Canada to offer guided forest therapy walks led by PaRx Connectors in communities across Canada, inviting participants to slow down, connect with nature, and experience its health benefits firsthand.

"This event has the potential to unite many overlapping sectors around shared goals to improve community wellbeing, advance health equity, and support nature conservation," says McCaffrey. "A national tradition that encourages people to spend time outdoors together will help mainstream nature as healthcare and deepen our connections to the people and places that sustain us."

Canadians are encouraged to gather with family, friends, neighbours, or their broader community and take part in this shared national experience.

To learn more, find local events, or join the initiative, visit everyoneoutdoorstogether.ca.