Winter Sports

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Abstract

The map shows the participation of Canadians in three popular winter sports by health region: ice hockey, downhill skiing (including snowboarding) and ice skating. The data are derived from the Canadian Community Health Survey conducted by Statistics Canada in 2005.

Source: CP Photo/COA/Andre Forget, Library and Archives Canada, C- 10716.

Of the top ten most-played sports by the Canadian population aged 15 and over, only two are winter sports – hockey and downhill skiing. Hockey ranked second to golf, and downhill/alpine skiing ranked eighth, according to the published results of Statistics Canada 2005 General Social Survey, Sport Supplement. The same study reports that while males vastly outnumber females in participation in ice hockey (25.9 to 4.2%), females slightly out-participate males in downhill or alpine skiing by 2.3%.

More information on Canadians’ participation in other popular winter sports are shown in Figure 1.

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Figure 1. The Most Popular Winter Sports

Winter Sports Participation

The map shows participation by health region in three popular winter sports: ice hockey, downhill skiing (including snowboarding) and ice skating. The data are derived from the Canadian Community Health Survey, 2005, conducted by Statistics Canada (2005) to provide estimates on various aspects of health across Canada for people aged 12 years or older, living in private occupied dwellings in 122 health regions covering all provinces and territories. Each province is divided into health regions in consultations with the provinces and territories. Several of the health regions have been combined, making for 101 health regions. The data were seasonally adjusted to four survey-defined seasons: September to November (fall), December to February (winter), March to May (spring), and June to August (summer). The responses mapped from the survey relate to following three questions:

1. Have you done any of the following (for example, ice skating, ice hockey, skiing) in the past three months?
2. In the past three months, how many times did you participate in ____?
3. About how much time did you spend on each occasion _____?

The highest winter-sport participation rates in skiing and snowboarding are found in areas with close geographical access to mountainous regions. These include the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia and Alberta, the Laurentian Mountains and Appalachian Mountains in Quebec, and the Blue Mountain region in Ontario. The three busiest ski resorts in Canada, are in health regions with the highest participation rates: Whistler-Blackcomb in the Rocky Mountains, Mount Tremblant in the Laurentians, and the Blue Mountain in the Niagara Escarpment, near Collingwood, Ontario.

All ten provinces have participation rates in ice hockey above 4.4%. In Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador, the participation rates are all 4.4% and higher in every health region.

Participation in ice skating is higher in Quebec and Ontario than in the other eight provinces. Only in health regions situated along the coast of British Columbia and in northern Saskatchewan do participation rates fall below 4.8%.

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