Castor - Municipal Wellness Policy

Developing a municipal wellness policy can help define a community’s vision of how they see their community supporting those who live there in making healthy choices. The main aim for developing and implementing healthy public policy is to create a supportive environment to enable people to lead healthy, meaningful, and enriched lives.   Healthy public policy also sets out to improve and protect the general welfare of the community.

In early 2019 the Castor Community Network (CCN) set out to develop a wellness policy to outline actions and strategies to support making a difference in their community around the areas of:  physical wellness, intellectual wellness, community inclusion, the healthy built environment and economic wellness.  Contributions to the policy development came from the CCN members and included representation from: the Town of Castor (Recreation), FCSS, Castor Housing Authority, Alberta Health Services (Community Dietician, Health Promotion and Addiction & Mental Health) and community residents.  The purpose of the policy is for Castor community members to enjoy a well-balance quality of life.  The policy outlines strategies for both the Town of Castor and the public.

The wellness policy lists the following strategies to support a healthy community:

Town obligations:

• Provide and promote affordable and meaningful recreational opportunities
• Encourage use of walking trails and facilities
• Investigate and explore resident and public input to assess community needs
• Strive to support healthy food and beverage choices
• Promote and support learning activities, opportunities and community events
• Provide and maintain areas where individuals may participate in a healthy active lifestyle

Public obligations:

• Seek out, value and participate in local wellness opportunities
• Reach out and share wellness needs with the Town
• Positively influence those around you to participate and value wellness
• Endeavor to make healthy food choices the first choice
• Utilize and respect built environments

A copy of the Town of Castor Wellness Policy can be found here.

Ways to take action: Community Strategies - Healthy Eating