Finance committee  Absolutely. Thank you for the opportunity, Mr. Sorbara. The wage and rent subsidies have been the most critical programs for our industry. In the very beginning of the pandemic we were negotiating strongly with landlords. As the Fitness Industry Council of Canada, we had all of

Finance committee  Absolutely. Thank you for the opportunity. In addition to everything you mentioned, in the fitness business, we have to lease fitness equipment, and that is still in our facilities. We are still obligated to cover those costs. Again, we are an industry that did have to invest, a

Finance committee  Exactly.

Finance committee  Absolutely. Thank you, Mr. Julian. Yes, the fitness industry here has been closed for most of the last 14 months. As I stated, we are looking at February 2023 to get our industry back to its February 2020 state. If we are a minimum of 18 months away following full vaccination of

Finance committee  Yes, I think the closure of gyms sends a message that maybe they are not a safe place, yet as I shared earlier, when we look at worldwide data, gyms and fitness centres are not transmission sites for COVID-19. They actually have a 0.06% rate globally, so we are safe. We can sha

Finance committee  If we get 1.2 million Canadians active out of the 30 million who are currently sedentary, we can actually have an upside of anywhere from $500 million to up to $2 billion, with the $2 billion representing those people who have underlying health concerns. If we get someone with hi

Finance committee  Yes, absolutely. Thank you. This really is a win for the federal government. This is a win for Canadians. This is a win to recover the fitness industry. When we actually look at the data that has been published by Canada on inactivity, we know that it costs us annually $2,000 p

Finance committee  That's where I really think that this is an emphasis on mental and social health. We see people who come together and really create a community. Not only is exercise medicine—so truly, from a physiological perspective, we know that when we move our bodies we are combatting depres

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and honourable members of the committee. It's a pleasure to be here today. The Fitness Industry Council of Canada represents over 6,000 fitness facilities across this great country. They range from single boutiques to national chains and non-profit and munic