Regional trends in the moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity and screen time of Canadians before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

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Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation

Introduction

Low levels of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) and high levels of recreational screen time are associated with increased risk of chronic disease morbidity and mortality (Warburton, Nicol & Bredin, 2006; Carson et al., 2016; Ekelund et al., 2016; Saunders et al., 2020). To maximize health, the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines recommend that youth aged 12–17 years accumulate at least 60 min per day of MVPA, and no more than 2 h of recreational screen time (Tremblay et al., 2016). Adults aged 18+ should accumulate at least 150 min of moderate-to-vigorous activity per week, along with no more than 3 h per day of recreational screen time (Ross et al., 2020). Data collected early in the COVID-19 pandemic suggested rapid and significant reductions in the proportion of Canadians meeting recommendations for MVPA and screen time among Canadians of all ages (Rhodes et al., 2020; Moore et al., 2020; Moore et al., 2021; Caldwell et al., 2022; Colley & Saunders, 2023a; Colley & Saunders, 2023b; Liu et al., 2023). Recent investigations using the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) have suggested that the MVPA levels of Canadian adults and male youth returned to or surpassed pre-pandemic levels by 2021, although the activity levels of female youth remained depressed (Colley & Saunders, 2023a; Colley & Saunders, 2023b). When examined at the national level, recreational screen time remained significantly higher in 2021 than in 2018 for all Canadian age groups (Colley & Saunders, 2023a; Colley & Saunders, 2023b). The above studies have identified nation-wide trends in MVPA and recreational screen time but did not examine regional trends. To our knowledge only one study has examined regional differences in MVPA and screen time among Canadian children and youth during the COVID pandemic (Caldwell et al., 2022), and reported that individuals in the Prairies and Atlantic Canada accumulated more MVPA than those living in Québec. However, to date no study has examined regional differences among adults, nor compared regional trends using data collected in real time for any age group. This is important, as policy approaches, and the spread of virus itself, varied greatly across regions throughout the pandemic (Cameron-Blake et al., 2021; Bignami, 2021).

Canada is a decentralized federation, with the provision of healthcare falling under the responsibility of the provinces and territories, while public health is a shared responsibility between municipal, provincial and federal governments (Canada, 2011). Canadian provinces also differ greatly in terms of demographics and population density, all contributing to different approaches and experiences across regions. In July of 2020 the 4 (largely rural) Atlantic provinces formed the “Atlantic Bubble” and took a “COVID-zero” approach throughout much of 2020 and 2021. This approach dramatically limited travel into the region and saw targeted restrictions and/or closures in response to signs of community transmission. With the exception of the above targeted and time-limited restrictions, schools, child-care and recreation facilities largely remained open in Atlantic Canada from the fall of 2020 onwards (Canadian Institute for Health Information, 2023). The combination of relatively few restrictions within the region, as well as limited community spread compared to other Canadian regions, led to a comparatively higher “normalcy” in Atlantic Canada than other Canadian regions for much of 2020 and 2021 (Cameron-Blake et al., 2021). In contrast, the province of Quebec, which has large population centers in both Montreal and Quebec City, was among the hardest hit regions of North America early in the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to both widespread restrictions and high levels of community spread throughout 2020 and 2021 (Cameron-Blake et al., 2021; Canadian Institute for Health Information, 2023). Ontario, Canada’s largest province, and the three relatively rural Prairie Provinces, also experienced relatively higher community transmission throughout 2020 and 2021, while enacting less stringent restrictions than in Quebec or Atlantic Canada early in the pandemic (Cameron-Blake et al., 2021). In particular, Alberta’s approach focused on supporting businesses and encouraging personal responsibility (Cameron-Blake et al., 2021). Finally, the policy approaches in BC was a roughly similar level of stringency as Ontario and the Prairie provinces, despite experiencing relatively lower community spread throughout 2020 and 2021 (Cameron-Blake et al., 2021). As noted by Cameron-Blake et al. (2021), in addition to differing in terms of policy approaches to COVID-19, provinces also varied in terms of COVID messaging. In particular, they highlight the examples of BC and the Atlantic province of Prince Edward Island, which had relatively low transmission throughout the pandemic, and where messaging was led by public health officials. In contrast, in Quebec, Ontario and Alberta, messaging was often led by the provincial premiers, which may have led to greater confusion (Cameron-Blake et al., 2021).

It is likely that the above regional differences in policy and COVID-19 transmission may have led to different trajectories in the MVPA and screen time of individuals living in each Canadian regions. Therefore, the purpose of this article was to describe age- and gender-specific regional trends in MVPA and screen time for Canadians aged 12+ years from 2018 to 2021.

Materials & Methods

Data source

The CCHS is an annual cross-sectional survey that collects information related to health status, health care utilization, and health determinants for the Canadian population (Statistics Canada, 2019). The CCHS is collected under the Statistics Act, and therefore does not require Research Ethics Board approval. All participants provided written informed consent prior to data collection. The present analysis includes self-reported MVPA and screen time data for Canadians aged 12+ years. The primary comparison of the present analysis is between the full annual dataset collected in 2018 (pre-pandemic, n = 54,045) and 2021 (during pandemic, n = 49,243). Additional comparisons are made to sub-annual datasets collected in 2020: pre-pandemic (January to March 2020, n = 14,844) and during pandemic (September to December 2020, n = 27,234). The response rate was as follows: 58.8% in 2018, 45.6% in January to March 2020, 27.4% in September to December 2020, and 28.4% in January 2021 to February 2022. The COVID-19 pandemic had major impacts on the data collection operations for CCHS 2020. Important analytical and data quality implications related to the 2020 data are described elsewhere (Statistics Canada, 2019; Colley & Watt, 2022). Briefly, CCHS data collection was paused from March to August 2020, and this resulted in a small pre-pandemic dataset spanning January to March 2020. The CCHS data collection re-started in September 2020 and continued until December 2020. Screen time data were not collected in 2020 in a full sample and therefore are not included in the present analysis.

MVPA and screen time questions

CCHS respondents were asked to provide estimates of time (hours and minutes) spent in the past 7 days engaged in transportation, recreational, occupational/household and school-based MVPA (Statistics Canada, 2019). The specific wording of individual questions are provided in Table 1. Values greater than 2 h per day of any domain were flagged as outliers and re-coded to 2 h. This occurred in less than 4% of respondents. Youth were classified as meeting the MVPA recommendation if their average daily quantity of MVPA (including all domains of MVPA) was equal to or greater than 60 min (Tremblay et al., 2016). Adults were classified as meeting the MVPA recommendation if their weekly sum of MVPA (including all domains of MVPA) was equal to or greater than 150 min (Ross et al., 2020).

Table 1:
Questions used to assess physical activity and sedentary behaviour in the CCHS (Government of Canada, 2019).
Domain of physical activity & sedentary behaviour Question
Youth aged 12–17 years
Pre-Amble The following questions are about various types of physical activities that you have done each day in the past week.
Transportation In the last 7 days, did you use active ways like walking or cycling to get to places such [school,] the bus stop, the shopping centre, [work] or to visit friends?
[If yes] How much time did you spend using active ways to get to places...
School-based In the last 7 days, did you do sports, fitness or recreational physical activities while at [school or day camp], including during physical education classes, during your breaks and any other time you played indoors or outdoors / day camp, including any time you played indoors or outdoors]?
[If yes] Did any of these activities make you sweat at least a little and breathe harder?
[If yes] How much time did you spend doing these activities at [school / day camp/school or day camp] that made you sweat at least a little and breathe harder...
Recreation In the last 7 days, did you do physical activities in your leisure time including exercising, playing an organized or non-organized sport or playing with your friends? [If yes] Did any of these leisure-time activities make you sweat at least a little and breathe harder?
How much time did you spend doing these leisure-time activities that made you sweat at least a little and breathe harder...
Household/Occupational In the last 7 days, did you do any other physical activities [that you have not already reported], for example, while you were [doing paid or unpaid work or] helping your family with chores?
[If yes] Did any of these other physical activities make you sweat at least a little and breathe harder?
[If yes] How much time did you spend doing these other physical activities that made you sweat at least a little and breathe harder...
Sedentary Behaviour On a [school or work day / day that was not a school or workday], how much of your free time did you spend watching television or a screen on any electronic device while sitting or lying down?
Adults aged 18+ years
Pre-Amble The following questions are about various types of physical activities done in the last 7 days. I want you to only think of activities you did for a minimum of 10 continuous minutes.
Transportation In the last 7 days, that is from last [Day of the week 7 days ago] to yesterday, did you use active ways like walking or cycling to get to places such as work, school, the bus stop, the shopping centre or to visit friends?
[If yes] How much time in total, in the last 7 days, did you spend doing these activities? Please only include activities that lasted a minimum of 10 continuous minutes.
Recreation [Not including activities you just reported,] in the last 7 days, did you do sports, fitness or recreational physical activities, organized or non-organized, that lasted a minimum of 10 continuous minutes? Examples are walking, home or gym exercise, swimming, cycling, running, skiing, dancing and all team sports.
[If yes] Did any of these recreational physical activities make you sweat at least a little and breathe harder?
[If yes] In the last 7 days, how much time in total did you spend doing these activities that made you sweat at least a little and breathe harder?
Occupational/Household In the last 7 days, did you do any other physical activities while at work, in or around your home or while volunteering? Examples are carrying heavy loads, shoveling, and household chores such as vacuuming or washing windows. Please remember to only include activities that lasted a minimum of 10 continuous minutes.
[If yes] Did any of these other physical activities make you sweat at least a little and breathe harder?
[If yes] In the last 7 days, how much time in total did you spend doing these activities that made you sweat at least a little and breathe harder?
Sedentary Behaviour On a [school or work day / day that was not a school or workday], how much of your free time did you spend watching television or a screen on any electronic device while sitting or lying down?
DOI: 10.7717/peerj.16913/table-1

Youth aged 12–17 years were asked to estimate their average daily recreational screen time for days they went to school and days they did not go to school (≤2 h per day, 2 to ≤4, 4 to ≤6, 6 to ≤8 and 8+ hours per day). Adults aged 18+ were asked to estimate their average daily recreational screen time for days that they went to work and days they did not go to work using the same categories. Screen time categories were re-coded to: ≤2 h per day, 2 to ≤4, 4+ hours per day for all respondents. Youth averaging ≤2 h per day were classified as meeting screen time recommendations for their age group (Tremblay et al., 2016). None of the screen time categories used by the CCHS align with the screen time recommendation for adults within the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines (≤3 h per day Ross et al., 2020), therefore adherence to this benchmark was not assessed in the present analysis.

Statistical analysis

Descriptive statistics were used to produce weighted means of hours of screen time and weighted percentages of those accumulating ≤2 h per day, 2 to ≤4, 4+ hours per day for all respondents. Results are presented as youth 12–17 years, adults 18–64 years, and adults 65+ years. The CCHS gathers health-related data at sub-provincial levels of geography to provide estimates representative of health regions or combined health regions. The present analysis compares five regions of Canada moving from east to west: Atlantic Canada (Newfoundland & Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island), Québec, Ontario, the Prairie Provinces (Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta), and British Columbia (BC). The Canadian Territories of the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut were excluded from this analysis because two years of data collection are required to produce reliable estimates in the territories. Excluded from the survey’s coverage are: person living on reserves and other Aboriginal settlements in the provinces; full-time members of the Canadian Forces; the institutionalized population, and persons living in the Québec health regions of Région du Nunavik and Région des Terres-Cries-de-la-baie-James. Altogther, these exclusions represent less than 3% of the Canadian population aged 18 and over (Statistics Canada, 2019).

Variance of the estimates was examined using 95% confidence intervals with bootstrap weights applied. Survey weights were applied to the data to address non-response bias and to make the results representative of the Canadian population living in the ten provinces, as described in detail elsewhere (Statistics Canada, 2019). Analyses were conducted using SAS (Version 9.4) and differences between the three time periods were tested using contrast statements within the PROC DESCRIPT procedure in SAS-callable SUDAAN (version 11.0.3).

Results

Participant demographics

The mean age of participants across all time points ranged between 14.4–14.7 years for youth, 41.2–41.5 years for adults 18–64 years, and 73.7–74.2 for adults 65+. Across all ages and time-points, the sample ranged from 48.6–53.6% female, and was 79.0–85.8% urban. The highest level of household education varied by age group: among youth 83.6–86.9% of respondents came from a household with at least some post-secondary education across all time points. Among adults aged 18–64 years, this varied from 67.6–71.2%, and among adults 65+ years it varied from 53.6%–57.5%.

Overall MVPA

National and regional trends in MVPA are presented in Tables 2 and 3 and Fig. 1. At the national level, the proportion of youth meeting Canada’s MVPA recommendation dropped by 14.8 and 9.9 percentage points among boys and girls respectively between 2018 and fall of 2020 at the national level (all p < 0.001), and returned to pre-pandemic levels by the fall of 2021 for boys, but not girls. At the regional level, Ontario and the Prairie Provinces saw significant reductions in the proportion of youth meeting the recommendations in late 2020 in both genders, while a decrease was seen for boys only in Québec (all p < 0.001). By 2021 the number of youth meeting MVPA guidelines had returned to pre-pandemic levels for boys and girls in all provinces outside of Ontario. In BC and Atlantic Canada, there were no significant changes in MVPA levels when comparing either the fall of 2020 or 2021 with the pre-pandemic period (2018) in either gender (all p > 0.05).

Table 2:
Proportion of participants meeting Canada’s physical activity recommendations before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2018 Jan–Mar 2020 Sept–Dec 2020 2021
n Estimate n Estimate n Estimate n Estimate
12–17 years
Canada-wide 3,952 49.6 (47.3, 51.9) 911 53.7 (49.5, 58.0) 1,573 37.2 (34.2, 40.3)* 3,501 43.8 (41.2, 46.4)*
Males 2,024 54.3 (51.2, 57.4) 465 60.0 (53.9, 65.8) 813 39.5 (35.5, 43.8)* 1,809 52.2 (48.6, 55.9)
Females 1,928 44.7 (41.3, 48.1) 446 47.1 (41.3, 53.1) 760 34.8 (30.6, 39.2)* 1,692 35.0 (31.7, 38.4)*
Atlantic Canada 496 44.0 (38.9, 49.2) 123 46.9 (37.3, 56.7) 170 42.1 (33.5, 51.3) 422 45.8 (40.1, 51.6)
Males 258 46.1 (39.2, 53.1) 62 52.5 (38.4, 66.2) 81 39.0 (26.8, 52.7) 217 49.4 (41.3, 57.6)
Females 238 41.7 (34.5, 49.2) 61 41.0 (28.3, 55.1) 89 45.0 (33.6, 57.0) 205 41.9 (34.1, 50.2)
Québec 843 45.0 (40.3, 49.7) 206 48.6 (40.9, 56.4) 386 29.8 (24.7, 35.5)* 792 43.4 (38.7, 48.3)
Males 417 52.0 (45.6, 58.3) 107 48.9 (38.4, 59.4) 190 31.3 (24.2, 39.4)* 393 51.2 (43.8, 58.6)
Females 426 37.6 (31.3, 44.4) 99 48.4 (36.8, 60.1) 196 28.3 (21.3, 36.5) 399 35.4 (29.4, 41.8)
Ontario 1,185 51.7 (47.3, 56.0) 258 53.5 (45.2, 61.6) 413 36.9 (31.1 43.0)* 1,003 37.9 (33.3, 42.7)*
Males 618 56.3 (50.4, 62.0) 137 63.1 (50.7, 74.0) 212 37.8 (29.9, 46.4)* 526 46.8 (40.2, 53.5)*
Females 567 46.8 (40.6, 53.0) 121 43.4 (32.2, 55.2) 201 35.9 (28.0, 44.6)* 477 28.7 (23.0, 35.1)*
Prairie Provinces 896 51.3 (46.9, 55.6) 196 54.5 (46.5, 62.2) 446 36.2 (31.2, 41.4)* 767 49.5 (44.6, 54.4)
Males 458 54.0 (48.0, 59.9) 92 60.6 (49.0, 71.2) 245 39.3 (32.6, 46.5)* 391 56.3 (49.4, 63.0)
Females 438 48.4 (42.2, 54.6) 104 47.9 (37.4, 58.6) 201 32.8 (25.7, 40.9)* 376 42.5 (35.7, 49.6)
British Columbia 532 51.2 (45.5, 56.8) 128 65.6 (56.6, 73.5)* 158 50.4 (42.3, 58.4) 517 52.8 (47.5, 58.1)
Males 273 56.6 (48.2, 64.6) 67 71.7 (59.0, 81.8)* 85 59.6 (48.4, 69.9) 282 66.3 (58.0, 73.7)
Females 259 45.4 (37.7, 53.3) 61 59.0 (45.6, 71.2) 73 40.5 (29.5, 52.6) 235 38.8 (31.5, 46.8)
18–64 years
Canada-wide 34,040 58.7 (57.7, 59.6) 7,468 56.5 (54.6, 58.4) 11,459 57.0 (55.5, 58.5) 26,797 57.5 (56.5, 58.4)
Males 15,898 63.0 (61.6, 64.3) 3,485 60.2 (57.5, 62.8) 5,191 59.2 (56.9, 61.3)* 12,199 59.8 (58.4, 61.3)*
Females 18,142 54.3 (53.1, 55.6) 3,983 52.9 (50.2, 55.5) 6,268 54.9 (52.8, 56.9) 14,598 55.1 (53.6, 56.5)
Atlantic Canada 4,122 56.5 (54.4, 58.7) 792 62.4 (56.6, 67.9) 1,119 56.3 (52.1, 60.3) 5,346 58.4 (56.5, 60.2)
Males 1,800 59.0 (55.9, 61.9) 339 72.2 (63.4, 79.5)* 510 53.7 (47.1, 60.2) 2,360 62.0 (59.1, 64.8)
Females 2,322 54.2 (51.3, 57.1) 453 52.9 (45.8. 59.9) 609 58.7 (53.4, 63.8) 2,986 54.9 (52.4, 57.3)
Québec 7,595 55.6 (53.8, 57.3) 1,609 59.1 (55.3, 62.9) 2,556 52.5 (49.1, 55.8) 3,914 56.2 (53.9, 58.4)
Males 3,642 61.2 (58.8, 63.6) 751 65.3 (60.0, 70.3) 1,192 54.6 (50.1, 59.0)* 1,839 58.3 (54.9, 61.5)
Females 3,953 49.8 (47.4, 52.3) 585 52.8 (47.9, 57.7) 1,364 50.3 (45.6, 54.9) 2,075 54.1 (51.0, 57.1)*
Ontario 9,875 57.2 (55.5, 58.8) 2,514 53.4 (50.2, 56.6)* 3,927 54.6 (52.0, 57.2) 7,182 54.8 (53.0, 56.6)
Males 4,548 61.4 (59.0, 63.8) 1,186 55.3 (50.5, 59.9)* 1,765 57.9 (53.9, 61.8) 3,216 57.0 (54.5, 59.6)*
Females 5,327 53.0 (50.6, 55.3) 1,328 51.6 (47.0, 56.1) 2,162 51.4 (47.9, 54.9) 3,966 52.6 (50.0, 55.3)
Prairie Provinces 7,742 59.7 (58.0, 61.3) 1,592 54.0 (49.6, 58.3)* 2,474 59.3 (56.5, 62.1) 7,731 58.4 (56.6, 60.2)
Males 3,705 64.3 (61.8, 66.7) 757 57.5 (51.5, 63.2)* 1,134 61.8 (57.5, 65.8) 3,582 60.3 (57.8, 62.8)*
Females 4,037 54.9 (52.6, 57.2) 835 50.4 (45.2, 55.7) 1,340 56.8 (53.1, 60.4) 4,149 56.4 (54.0, 58.8)
British Columbia 4,706 68.0 (65.7, 70.2) 961 62.2 (57.3, 66.8)* 1,383 69.0 (65.0, 72.8) 2,624 65.5 (62.7, 68.1)
Males 2,203 70.7 (67.4, 73.8) 452 64.2 (56.9, 70.9) 590 69.7 (63.2, 75.6) 1,202 69.0 (65.2, 72.5)
Females 2,503 65.3 (62.4, 68.2) 509 60.2 (53.7, 66.4) 792 68.3 (63.2, 73.0) 1,422 62.0 (58.3, 65.6)
65+ years
Canada-wide 16,053 36.8 (35.6, 38.0) 6,465 38.9 (36.8, 41.0) 14,202 39.9 (38.5, 41.4)* 18,945 40.1 (38.9, 41.3)*
Males 7,067 40.7 (38.9, 42.5) 2,821 43.8 (40.6, 47.1) 6,063 44.9 (42.7, 47.0)* 8,254 43.8 (42.1, 45.6)*
Females 8,986 33.4 (31.8, 35.0) 3,644 34.6 (32.0, 37.2) 8,139 35.6 (33.7, 37.6) 10,691 36.9 (35.3, 38.5)*
Atlantic Canada 2,259 31.5 (29.0, 34.0) 1,859 34.8 (32.1, 37.5) 4,509 36.9 (34.8, 39.0)* 4,113 35.4 (33.4, 37.4)*
Males 1,002 37.6 (33.8, 41.6) 824 38.1 (33.8, 42.6) 1,933 40.8 (37.7, 44.0) 1,788 41.9 (39.0, 45.0)
Females 1,257 26.1 (23.2, 29.2) 1,035 31.8 (28.3, 35.6)* 2,576 33.4 (30.5, 36.4)* 2,325 29.6 (27.1, 32.2)
Québec 3,582 32.3 (30.0, 34.6) 907 36.6 (32.8, 40.6) 1,762 33.3 (30.1, 36.5) 2,641 36.4 (34.0, 38.9)*
Males 1,613 37.6 (33.9, 41.3) 419 38.1 (31.5, 45.1) 779 37.9 (33.0, 43.1) 1,156 42.1 (38.2, 46.0)
Females 1,969 27.7 (25.1, 30.6) 488 35.4 (30.0, 41.1)* 983 29.2 (25.2, 33.5) 1,485 31.4 (28.3, 34.7)
Ontario 4,890 35.9 (33.6, 38.3) 1,357 37.7 (33.7, 41.9) 2,966 38.9 (36.1, 41.8) 5,430 37.8 (35.8, 39.8)
Males 2,098 38.3 (35.0, 41.8) 591 46.4 (39.8, 53.2)* 1,265 45.1 (40.9, 49.3)* 2,347 39.7 (36.7, 42.8)
Females 2,792 33.9 (30.8, 37.2) 766 30.3 (25.7, 35.3) 1,701 33.7 (30.1, 37.4) 3,083 36.2 (33.5, 39.0)
Prairie Provinces 3,064 36.4 (33.8, 39.0) 1,715 38.1 (34.9, 41.3) 3,413 42.6 (40.0, 45.3)* 4,669 44.3 (42.0, 46.7)*
Males 1,341 42.3 (38.4, 46.3) 706 47.3 (41.9, 52.7) 1,428 48.0 (44.1, 51.9)* 2,040 49.1 (45.8, 52.5)*
Females 1,723 31.2 (27.9, 34.6) 1,009 29.9 (26.2, 33.9) 1,985 37.9 (34.5, 41.4)* 2,629 40.1 (36.8, 43.4)*
British Columbia 2,258 50.4 (47.4, 53.5) 627 49.1 (43.9, 54.2) 1,552 53.3 (49.7, 56.9) 2,092 50.7 (47.3, 54.1)
Males 1,013 52.2 (47.9, 56.6) 281 46.3 (39.0, 53.9) 658 55.1 (49.4, 60.6) 923 53.1 (47.7, 58.4)
Females 1,245 48.8 (44.8, 52.8) 346 51.5 (44.1, 58.9) 894 51.6 (46.8, 56.4) 1,169 48.6 (44.4, 52.8)
DOI: 10.7717/peerj.16913/table-2

Notes:

Data are presented as mean (95% CI).

Significantly different from 2018, p <0.05.
Table 3:
Minutes per day spent engaging in overall physical activity before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2018 Jan–Mar 2020 Sept–Dec 2020 2021
n Estimate n Estimate n Estimate n Estimate
12–17 years
Canada-wide 3,952 72.3 (69.5, 75.1) 911 75.1 (70.2, 80.0) 1,573 56.3 (52.6, 60.0)* 3,501 67.1 (63.8, 70.4)*
Males 2,024 80.3 (76.0, 84.6) 465 81.8 (74.4, 89.1) 813 61.0 (55.4, 66.5)* 1,809 78.3 (73.0, 83.6)
Females 1,928 63.8 (60.1, 67.6) 446 68.1 (61.6, 74.7) 760 51.5 (46.5, 56.4)* 1,692 55.5 (51.8, 59.2)*
Atlantic Canada 496 63.2 (56.6, 69.7) 123 68.2 (56.7, 79.8) 170 58.0 (48.9, 67.2) 422 69.7 (62.3, 77.0)
Males 258 68.4 (58.5, 78.2) 62 76.4 (59.7, 93.1) 81 63.2 (48.0, 78.3) 217 76.0 (64.9, 87.0)
Females 238 57.5 (49.4, 65.6) 61 59.7 (43.7, 75.6) 89 53.3 (42.5, 64.1) 205 62.9 (53.0, 72.9)
Québec 843 64.2 (58.9, 69.5) 206 70.7 (61.7, 79.7) 386 49.1 (43.3, 54.9)* 792 65.1 (57.0, 73.1)
Males 417 73.4 (65.9, 80.8) 107 69.5 (56.6, 82.3) 190 50.3 (41.0, 59.6)* 393 76.8 (62.3, 91.3)
Females 426 54.6 (47.1, 62.1) 99 71.9 (59.2, 84.7)* 196 47.9 (40.7, 55.1) 399 52.9 (46.5, 59.3)
Ontario 1,185 74.2 (68.7, 79.8) 258 72.3 (62.8, 81.9) 413 55.3 (47.9, 62.8)* 1,003 57.8 (52.6, 62.9)*
Males 618 81.7 (73.4, 90.0) 137 85.5 (71.2, 99.8) 212 57.6 (46.4, 68.9)* 526 68.3 (60.9, 75.8)*
Females 567 66.4 (59.5, 73.2) 121 58.5 (46.3, 70.7) 201 53.0 (42.6, 63.4)* 477 46.8 (40.2, 53.4)*
Prairie Provinces 896 76.7 (71.0, 82.3) 196 76.1 (66.6, 85.6) 446 55.0 (48.7, 61.4)* 767 80.1 (73.0, 87.2)
Males 458 85.2 (76.3, 94.1) 92 78.2 (64.6, 91.7) 245 60.5 (51.1, 69.9)* 391 90.7 (79.3, 102.0)
Females 438 67.6 (60.7, 74.5) 104 73.9 (61.3, 86.5) 201 49.3 (40.6, 58.0)* 376 69.1 (60.5, 77.7)
British Columbia 532 77.4 (70.1, 84.6) 128 93.5 (80.4, 106.6)* 158 73.1 (63.5, 82.7) 517 78.3 (71.4, 85.1)
Males 273 85.8 (74.5, 97.1) 67 98.9 (81.1, 116.6) 85 89.5 (75.2, 103.8) 282 93.7 (83.2, 104.1)
Females 259 68.5 (58.7, 78.3) 61 87.9 (68.7, 107.2) 73 55.6 (43.6, 67.6) 235 62.3 (53.2, 71.4)
18–64 years
Canada-wide 34,040 45.2 (44.3, 46.1) 7,468 41.6 (39.9, 43.3)* 11,459 44.0 (42.7, 45.4) 26,797 44.6 (43.5, 45.6)
Males 15,898 51.9 (50.5, 53.3) 3,485 47.6 (45.1, 50.1)* 5,191 49.8 (47.5, 52.1) 12,199 49.4 (47.8, 51.1)*
Females 18,142 38.5 (37.4, 39.5) 3,983 35.6 (33.4, 37.7)* 6,268 38.3 (36.6, 40.0) 14,598 39.7 (38.3, 41.0)
Atlantic Canada 4,122 45.8 (43.6, 48.0) 792 49.7 (43.8, 55.7) 1,119 44.9 (41.0, 48.7) 5,346 45.8 (43.9, 47.8)
Males 1,800 51.0 (47.7, 54.3) 339 61.4 (52.5, 70.3)* 510 48.5 (42.1, 55.0) 2,360 52.3 (49.0, 55.7)
Females 2,322 40.8 (38.1, 43.4) 453 38.3 (31.1, 45.6) 609 41.3 (37.1, 45.6) 2,986 39.5 (37.4, 41.6)
Québec 7,595 39.3 (37.8, 40.8) 1,609 39.8 (37.0, 42.7) 2,556 37.7 (34.9, 40.5) 3,914 41.1 (38.9, 43.2)
Males 3,642 46.2 (43.9, 48.6) 751 48.8 (44.1, 53.6) 1,192 43.7 (39.1, 48.2) 1,839 46.3 (42.8, 49.7)
Females 3,953 32.2 (30.3, 34.0) 585 30.7 (27.7, 33.7) 1,364 31.6 (28.2, 35.0) 2,075 35.7 (33.4, 38.1)*
Ontario 9,875 44.6 (43.0, 46.3) 2,514 37.5 (34.8, 40.2)* 3,927 42.3 (39.8, 44.8) 7,182 41.7 (39.9, 43.6)*
Males 4,548 51.8 (49.2, 54.4) 1,186 41.8 (37.4, 46.2)* 1,765 48.6 (44.5, 52.7) 3,216 44.8 (42.1, 47.5)*
Females 5,327 37.6 (35.8, 39.4) 1,328 33.2 (29.9, 36.5)* 2,162 36.1 (33.1, 39.1) 3,966 38.7 (36.0, 41.3)
Prairie Provinces 7,742 47.2 (45.6, 48.9) 1,592 43.4 (39.4, 47.3) 2,474 45.3 (42.6, 48.0) 7,731 47.2 (45.3, 49.1)
Males 3,705 54.0 (51.3, 56.7) 757 49.6 (44.1, 55.1) 1,134 50.6 (46.3, 55.0) 3,582 52.9 (50.0, 55.8)
Females 4,037 40.2 (38.1, 42.4) 835 36.9 (32.1, 41.7) 1,340 39.8 (36.6, 42.9) 4,149 41.4 (39.2, 43.7)
British Columbia 4,706 53.8 (51.5, 56.1) 961 50.6 (46.1, 55.2) 1,383 57.9 (53.5, 62.3) 2,624 54.2 (51.1, 57.3)
Males 2,203 59.5 (56.2, 62.8) 452 53.7 (47.0, 60.4) 590 63.2 (56.4, 69.9) 1,202 62.1 (57.2, 67.1)
Females 2,503 48.2 (45.2, 51.1) 509 47.6 (41.3, 54.0) 792 52.7 (47.3, 58.0) 1,422 46.4 (42.7, 50.1)
65+ years
Canada-wide 16,053 26.4 (25.3, 27.5) 6,465 26.2 (24.6, 27.7) 14,202 30.2 (28.8, 31.5)* 18,945 31.1 (30.0, 32.1)*
Males 7,067 30.7 (28.8, 32.5) 2,821 30.3 (27.9, 32.7) 6,063 35.2 (33.0, 37.4)* 8,254 35.2 (33.6, 36.9)*
Females 8,986 22.7 (21.5, 24.0) 3,644 22.6 (20.7, 24.5) 8,139 25.8 (24.1, 27.4)* 10,691 27.5 (26.0 28.9)*
Atlantic 2,259 24.2 (22.1, 26.3) 1,859 24.4 (22.2, 26.6) 4,509 28.3 (26.3, 30.4)* 4,113 27.8 (25.7, 29.9)*
Males 1,002 29.9 (26.5, 33.3) 824 28.1 (24.4, 31.8) 1,933 34.3 (31.1, 37.5) 1,788 35.4 (31.8, 39.0*
Females 1,257 19.2 (16.7, 21.6) 1,035 21.2 (18.4, 24.0) 2,576 23.1 (20.7, 25.5)* 2,325 21.1 (19.0, 23.1)
Québec 3,582 21.7 (20.0, 23.3) 907 23.7 (21.0, 26.4) 1,762 22.0 (19.8, 24.2) 2,641 26.8 (24.9, 28.8)*
Males 1,613 26.4 (23.7, 29.2) 419 24.9 (20.7, 29.2) 779 25.0 (21.4, 28.6) 1,156 31.0 (27.9, 34.1)*
Females 1,969 17.6 (15.8, 19.4) 488 22.6 (18.4, 26.9)* 983 19.4 (16.7, 22.2) 1,485 23.0 (20.6, 25.5)*
Ontario 4,890 26.4 (24.1, 28.7) 1,357 24.8 (21.9, 27.7) 2,966 30.7 (28.0, 33.5)* 5,430 28.3 (26.5, 30.1)
Males 2,098 29.9 (26.2, 33.7) 591 31.6 (26.8, 36.5) 1,265 37.8 (33.2, 42.4)* 2,347 30.7 (27.9, 33.4)
Females 2,792 23.4 (20.9, 25.9) 766 18.9 (15.6, 22.3)* 1,701 24.7 (21.6, 27.9) 3,083 26.3 (23.8, 28.7)
Prairie Provinces 3,064 25.2 (23.3, 27.0) 1,715 27.8 (24.8, 30.7) 3,413 32.0 (29.6, 34.3)* 4,669 36.6 (33.6, 39.6)*
Males 1,341 30.4 (27.2, 33.5) 706 34.0 (29.0, 39.1) 1,428 37.0 (33.2, 40.8)* 2,040 42.6 (38.7, 46.5)*
Females 1,723 20.6 (18.3, 22.8) 1,009 22.2 (18.9, 25.5) 1,985 27.5 (24.7, 30.3)* 2,629 31.3 (26.9, 35.7)*
British Columbia 2,258 37.4 (34.5, 40.3) 627 33.5 (29.7, 37.3) 1,552 41.9 (38.2, 45.7) 2,092 41.9 (38.6, 45.3)*
Males 1,013 40.6 (36.0, 45.1) 281 33.3 (27.6, 38.9)* 658 44.4 (38.8, 50.0) 923 46.7 (41.1, 52.2)
Females 1,245 34.5 (31.0, 38.0) 346 33.7 (28.8, 38.7) 894 39.7 (34.4, 45.0) 1,169 37.7 (33.5, 41.9)
DOI: 10.7717/peerj.16913/table-3

Notes:

Data are presented as mean (95% CI).

Significantly different from 2018, p <0.05.
Proportion of Canadians meeting physical activity guidelines across ages and regions.

Figure 1: Proportion of Canadians meeting physical activity guidelines across ages and regions.

Among adults 18–64 years at the national level, there was a significant reduction in the proportion of men (but not women) meeting the MVPA guidelines in both the fall of 2020 and 2021, when compared to 2018. In Québec, there was 7-percentage point reduction in the proportion of males meeting the recommendations in the fall of 2020, compared to 2018, while there was a 4-percentage point increase among females in 2021 (all p < 0.05). In Ontario and the Prairie provinces, males saw a 4-percentage point decrease in recommendation adherence in the fall of 2021, when compared to 2018 (p = 0.01). There were no other significant differences across regions when comparing the fall of 2020 or 2021 with 2018 (all p > 0.05).

Among adults aged 65+ years, there was a significant increase in the proportion of men meeting MVPA recommendations at the national level in the fall of 2020 (p < 0.05) and for both men and women in 2021 (p < 0.05). Similar trends were seen at the regional level. Compared to 2018, significant increases were observed in Atlantic Canada and the Prairies in the fall of 2020, and in Atlantic Canada, Québec and the Prairies in 2021 (all p < 0.05), although these changes were not always significant when examining men and women separately. Aside from an increase among Ontario men in the fall of 2020, there were no other changes observed in this age group for adults living in Ontario or BC (all p > 0.05).

Recreational MVPA

Daily recreational MVPA is reported in Table 4. At the national-level, youth reported an average decrease of 10 min per day of recreational MVPA in the fall of 2020, compared to 2018 (p < 0.001), while the difference between 2021 and 2018 was significant in girls, but not boys. Except for boys in Atlantic Canada and BC, all groups saw reductions in the fall of 2020 at the regional level (all p < 0.05). By the fall of 2021 most regions had returned to baseline levels, with the exception of Ontario, which remained lower when both genders were combined (but not in either gender individually).

Table 4:
Minutes per day spent engaging in recreational physical activity before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2018 Jan–Mar 2020 Sept–Dec 2020 2021
n Estimate n Estimate n Estimate n Estimate
12–17 years
Canada-wide 3,952 29.8 (28.3, 31.4) 911 29.1 (26.3, 32.0) 1,573 20.3 (18.5, 22.1)* 3,501 27.6 (25.7, 29.6)
Males 2,024 33.9 (31.6, 36.2) 465 31.5 (27.4, 35.5) 813 23.3 (20.5, 26.0)* 1,809 33.2 (30.3, 36.1)
Females 1,928 25.4 (23.3, 27.5) 446 26.7 (22.6, 30.7) 760 17.2 (14.9, 19.5)* 1,692 21.8 (19.5, 24.2)*
Atlantic Canada 496 31.0 (27.2, 34.7) 123 29.6 (22.6, 36.5) 170 24.1 (19.4, 28.8)* 422 33.2 (28.7, 37.7)
Males 258 33.1 (27.3, 38.8) 62 33.3 (21.9, 44.6) 81 28.0 (20.0, 35.9) 217 35.0 (29.2, 40.8)
Females 238 28.7 (24.3, 33.1) 61 25.4 (17.0, 33.9) 89 20.6 (15.3, 25.9)* 205 31.2 (24.3, 38.2)
Québec 843 24.0 (21.0, 27.0) 206 28.1 (22.9, 33.3) 386 14.5 (11.8, 17.2)* 792 25.0 (20.8, 29.2)
Males 417 29.3 (24.5, 34.0) 107 31.2 (23.4, 39.1) 190 16.6 (12.0, 21.3)* 393 32.0 (24.9, 39.0)
Females 426 18.3 (14.9, 21.7) 99 24.9 (18.1, 31.7) 196 12.3 (9.1, 15.5)* 399 17.7 (13.7, 21.8)
Ontario 1,185 31.3 (28.3, 34.3) 258 25.5 (20.1, 31.0) 413 21.0 (17.2, 24.7)* 1,003 26.4 (23.0, 29.9)*
Males 618 35.7 (31.3, 40.0) 137 27.7 (20.4, 34.9) 212 22.8 (17.1, 28.6)* 526 31.2 (26.2, 36.2)
Females 567 26.7 (22.7, 30.6) 121 23.2 (14.9, 31.6) 201 19.1 (14.2, 24.0* 477 21.5 (17.0, 25.9)
Prairie Provinces 896 31.5 (28.4, 34.6) 196 29.9 (24.7, 35.2) 446 20.4 (17.4, 23.5)* 767 29.4 (25.8, 33.0)
Males 458 36.4 (31.8, 40.9) 92 31.9 (23.9, 39.9) 245 24.2 (19.6, 28.9)* 391 34.8 (28.9, 40.7)
Females 438 26.1 (21.8, 30.4) 104 28.0 (21.6, 34.5) 201 16.5 (12.6, 20.5)* 376 23.8 (19.9, 27.8)
British Columbia 532 31.7 (27.4, 36.0) 128 41.1 (33.7, 48.5)* 158 25.8 (21.1, 30.5) 517 30.3 (26.3, 34.3)
Males 273 32.7 (26.3, 39.1) 67 42.8 (33.0, 52.6) 85 32.4 (24.6, 40.1) 282 38.1 (32.3, 43.9)
Females 259 30.6 (24.9, 36.3) 61 39.4 (28.5, 50.2) 73 18.9 (13.3, 24.5)* 235 22.2 (16.4, 27.9)
18–64 years
Canada-wide 34,040 15.0 (14.6, 15.4) 7,468 15.0 (14.1, 15.8) 11,459 15.4 (14.7, 16.2) 26,797 16.5 (16.0, 17.1)*
Males 15,898 16.7 (16.1, 17.3) 3,485 16.4 (15.2, 17.7) 5,191 16.5 (15.3,17.6) 12,199 17.7 (16.8, 18.5)
Females 18,142 13.3 (12.8, 13.8) 3,983 13.5 (12.4, 14.6) 6,268 14.4 (13.4, 15.4)* 14,598 15.4 (14.7,16.1)*
Atlantic Canada 4,122 14.2 (13.3, 15.2) 792 15.8 (13.1, 18.6) 1,119 15.2 (13.1, 17.4) 5,346 17.2 (16.0, 18.3)*
Males 1,800 14.3 (12.9, 15.8) 339 18.6 (13.8, 23.3) 510 16.4 (12.9, 19.9) 2,360 18.3 (16.4, 20.3)*
Females 2,322 14.1 (12.9, 15.4) 453 13.2 (10.5, 15.9) 609 14.1 (11.7, 16.5) 2,986 16.0 (14.8, 17.2)*
Québec 7,595 13.9 (13.1, 14.6) 1,609 14.8 (13.1, 16.6) 2,556 13.6 (12.1, 15.0) 3,914 15.5 (14.4, 16.7)*
Males 3,642 15.5 (14.4, 16.5) 751 16.0 (13.5, 18.6) 1,192 14.7 (12.4, 17.1) 1,839 16.8 (15.0, 18.6)
Females 3,953 12.2 (11.2, 13.2) 585 13.6 (11.6, 15.7) 1,364 12.3 (10.7, 14.0) 2,075 14.3 (12.9, 15.6)*
Ontario 9,875 14.3 (13.6, 15.1) 2,514 13.9 (12.6, 15.3) 3,927 14.8 (13.5, 16.1) 7,182 15.3 (14.3, 16.3)
Males 4,548 16.4 (15.2, 17.6) 1,186 16.1 (13.8, 18.3) 1,765 16.5 (14.5, 18.5) 3,216 16.4 (15.0, 17.8)
Females 5,327 12.3 (11.5, 13.2) 1,328 11.8 (10.1, 13.5) 2,162 13.1 (11.5, 14.8) 3,966 14.2 (12.9, 15.6)*
Prairie Provinces 7,742 15.8 (15.0, 16.6) 1,592 15.3 (13.4, 17.3) 2,474 15.9 (14.5, 17.4) 7,731 17.0 (16.0, 18.0)
Males 3,705 17.4 (16.1, 18.7) 757 17.0 (14.3, 19.8) 1,134 16.6 (14.3, 18.8) 3,582 17.8 (16.3, 19.3)
Females 4,037 14.2 (13.2, 15.1) 835 13.6 (11.3, 15.9) 1,340 15.3 (13.5, 17.1) 4,149 16.3 (15.1, 17.5)*
British Columbia 4,706 18.2 (17.1, 19.3) 961 17.4 (14.9, 19.8) 1,383 19.9 (17.3, 22.4) 2,624 20.7 (18.9, 22.4)*
Males 2,203 20.0 (18.2, 21.8) 452 16.2 (13.0, 19.5)* 590 19.1 (15.8, 22.5) 1,202 22.2 (19.7, 24.7)
Females 2,503 16.4 (15.0, 17.8) 509 18.5 (14.6, 22.3) 792 20.6 (17.0, 24.2)* 1,422 19.2 (16.8, 21.6)*
65+ years
Canada-wide 16,053 9.0 (8.4, 9.6) 6,465 8.2 (7.4, 9.0) 14,202 9.2 (8.5, 9.8) 18,945 11.1 (10.5, 11.7)*
Males 7,067 11.0 (9.9, 12.1) 2,821 10.0 (8.7, 11.3) 6,063 11.1 (10.0, 12.3) 8,254 13.0 (12.0, 14.0)*
Females 8,986 7.3 (6.7, 7.8) 3,644 6.6 (5.5, 7.6) 8,139 7.4 (6.7, 8.2) 10,691 9.5 (8.7, 10.2)*
Atlantic Canada 2,259 7.8 (6.8, 8.7) 1,859 7.4 (6.3, 8.5) 4,509 9.1 (8.1, 10.1) 4,113 8.7 (7.8, 9.7)
Males 1,002 9.7 (8.0, 11.4) 824 8.1 (6.1, 10.1) 1,933 10.3 (8.7, 11.9) 1,788 11.5 (9.7, 13.3)
Females 1,257 6.1 (5.0, 7.1) 1,035 6.7 (5.3, 8.2) 2,576 8.0 (6.7, 9.4)* 2,325 6.3 (5.5, 7.1)
Québec 3,582 8.1 (7.1, 9.1) 907 7.9 (6.0, 9.8) 1,762 6.9 (5.7, 8.0) 2,641 9.9 (8.8, 11.1)*
Males 1,613 10.1 (8.4, 11.8) 419 7.6 (5.6, 9.5) 779 7.7 (5.9, 9.5) 1,156 12.6 (10.5, 14.6)
Females 1,969 6.5 (5.5, 7.4) 488 8.2 (5.2, 11.2) 983 6.1 (4.7, 7.5) 1,485 7.6 (6.4, 8.8)
Ontario 4,890 9.2 (8.0, 10.4) 1,357 7.2 (5.8, 8.5)* 2,966 9.2 (7.8, 10.7) 5,430 10.6 (9.5, 11.7)
Males 2,098 11.1 (8.8, 13.5) 591 10.4 (7.7, 13.0) 1,265 11.7 (9.4, 14.1) 2,347 11.9 (10.2, 13.6)
Females 2,792 7.5 (6.4, 8.6) 766 4.4 (3.3, 5.6)* 1,701 7.1 (5.5, 8.7) 3,083 9.5 (8.1, 11.0)*
Prairie Provinces 3,064 8.4 (7.4, 9.4) 1,715 10.2 (8.5, 11.9) 3,413 10.8 (9.4, 12.3)* 4,669 11.9 (10.5, 13.4)*
Males 1,341 10.2 (8.5, 11.9) 706 13.1 (10.3, 15.9) 1,428 13.0 (10.4, 15.6) 2,040 12.5 (10.5, 14.6)
Females 1,723 6.9 (5.8, 8.0) 1,009 7.7 (5.8, 9.6) 1,985 8.9 (7.5, 10.4)* 2,629 11.4 (9.4, 13.4)*
British Columbia 2,258 11.4 (10.1, 12.7) 627 9.7 (7.6, 11.8) 1,552 11.2 (9.5, 12.8) 2,092 14.8 (13.2, 16.5)*
Males 1,013 13.9 (11.8, 16.0) 281 11.2 (7.8, 14.6) 658 13.8 (11.0, 16.5) 923 17.8 (15.0, 20.6)*
Females 1,245 9.1 (7.6, 10.6) 346 8.3 (5.5, 11.0) 894 8.8 (7.1, 10.5) 1,169 12.2 (10.3, 14.0)*
DOI: 10.7717/peerj.16913/table-4

Notes:

Data are presented as mean (95% CI).

Significantly different from 2018, p <0.05.

Among adults aged 18–64 years, recreational MVPA levels generally remained stable between 2018 and the fall of 2020, with the exception of increased MVPA among women in BC (p < 0.05). In the fall of 2021, significant increases in recreational MVPA were seen nationally, as well as in Québec (overall and in women) and in, Ontario, and the Prairie Provinces (women only) (all p < 0.05). Among males, an increase in recreational MVPA was seen only in Atlantic Canada. Among adults 65+ years, recreational MVPA levels were significantly increased in the fall of 2020 in females in Atlantic Canada and the Prairie Provinces (all p <  0.05). In the fall of 2021, increases were observed for females in Ontario and the Prairies, in both genders in BC, and overall in Québec (but not in either gender individually).

Active transportation

Active transportation decreased significantly among boys and girls at the national level in the fall of 2020 (all p < 0.001) and remained at this level in the fall of 2021 for girls, but not boys (Table 5). Both genders in Ontario and the Prairies, and boys in Québec saw reduced time spent in active transportation in the fall of 2020, which remained reduced in 2021 in Ontario only (all p < 0.05). There was no change in active transportation in either Atlantic Canada or BC at any time point (all p > 0.05). Among adults 18–64 years nation-wide, there was a significant reduction in active transportation levels in the fall of 2020 for females, and for both genders in 2021 (all p < 0.05). At the regional level in the fall of 2020, a significant increase was seen for females in Atlantic Canada, along with a significant decrease for females in Ontario, with no changes seen among males in any region. In the fall of 2021, decrease in active transportation was observed in BC (among women), Ontario saw a decrease in both genders, and Atlantic Canada saw an increase among males only. Among adults 65+ years there were small but significant increases nation-wide in the fall of 2020 but not 2021 (all p < 0.001) for both males and females. At the regional level, overall increases were seen in the fall of 2020 in Ontario, and for both males and females in Atlantic Canada (all p < 0.05). In the fall of 2021, Atlantic Canada, Quebec and the Prairies saw an increase either overall or in at least one gender, while BC saw an overall decrease (all p < 0.05). There were no changes seen in Ontario when comparing 2021 and 2018 (p > 0.05).

Table 5:
Minutes per day spent engaging in active transportation before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2018 Jan–Mar 2020 Sept–Dec 2020 2021
n Estimate n Estimate n Estimate n Estimate
12–17 years
Canada-wide 3,952 24.8 (23.3, 26.3) 911 23.1 (20.4, 25.7) 1,573 19.6 (17.8, 21.4)* 3,501 20.4 (18.8, 22.0)*
Males 2,024 25.9 (23.6, 28.1) 465 24.7 (20.6, 28.9) 813 19.4 (16.9, 21.9)* 1,809 22.7 (20.1, 25.4)
Females 1,928 23.6 (21.5, 25.7) 446 21.3 (18.2, 24.4) 760 19.8 (17.2, 22.3* 1,692 17.9(16.3, 19.6)*
Atlantic Canada 496 17.3 (14.2, 20.4) 123 21.8 (15.0, 28.6) 170 19.7 (14.6, 24.9) 422 18.8 (15.4, 22.3)
Males 258 18.6 (14.3, 22.9) 62 25.6E (15.9, 35.4) 81 19.6E (11.7, 27.5) 217 21.0 (15.5, 26.6)
Females 238 15.9 (11.4, 20.3) 61 17.9E (9.0, 26.7) 89 19.8E (12.9, 26.8) 205 16.5 (12.2, 20.8)
Québec 843 21.5 (18.8, 24.2) 206 18.7 (14.7, 22.6) 386 15.8 (13.2, 18.4)* 792 21.9 (18.0, 25.8)
Males 417 22.1 (18.2, 25.9) 107 17.9 (12.5, 23.2) 190 13.3 (10.5, 16.1)* 393 23.8 (17.1, 30.6)
Females 426 20.8 (17.0, 24.7) 99 19.4 (13.3, 25.6) 196 18.4 (13.8, 22.9) 399 19.9 (16.2, 23.5)
Ontario 1,185 27.3 (24.3, 30.4) 258 23.9 (18.3, 29.5) 413 19.7 (16.3, 23.1)* 1,003 17.1 (14.7, 19.5)*
Males 618 28.1 (23.6, 32.5) 137 29.1 (19.6, 38.5) 212 19.3 (14.3, 24.2)* 526 20.1 (16.1, 24.1)*
Females 567 26.6 (22.5, 30.7) 121 18.2 (12.8, 23.7)* 201 20.1 (15.4, 24.8* 477 14.0 (11.3, 16.8)*
Prairie Provinces 896 24.1 (21.2, 27.1) 196 21.1 (16.9, 25.3) 446 17.3 (14.5, 20.0)* 767 23.8 (19.8, 27.7)
Males 458 25.7 (21.1, 30.3) 92 20.5 (14.7, 26.4) 245 17.9 (14.2, 21.6)* 391 24.9 (18.5, 31.2)
Females 438 22.4 (18.8, 26.0) 104 21.6 (15.9, 27.4) 201 16.6 (12.4, 20.8* 376 22.6 (18.3, 26.8)
British Columbia 532 26.6 (23.0, 30.2) 128 32.2 (25.8, 38.6) 158 29.2 (22.8, 35.7) 517 23.8 (20.6, 26.9)
Males 273 29.0 (23.6, 34.3) 67 29.1 (21.7, 36.4) 85 32.0 (22.8, 41.1) 282 26.7 (21.5, 31.8)
Females 259 24.0 (19.0, 29.0) 61 35.4 (25.2, 45.7) 73 26.3 (17.6, 34.9) 235 20.7 (16.8, 24.7)
18–64 years
Canada-wide 34,040 13.8 (13.4, 14.3) 7,468 13.3 (12.5, 14.2) 11,459 12.9 (12.2, 13.7)* 26,797 12.3 (11.8, 12.7)*
Males 15,898 14.7 (14.0, 15.4) 3,485 14.9 (13.6, 16.2) 5,191 14.1 (13.0, 15.2) 12,199 12.8 (12.1, 13.5)*
Females 18,142 13.0 (12.4, 13.5) 3,983 11.7 (10.7, 12.8)* 6,268 11.8 (10.8, 12.7)* 14,598 11.7 (11.0, 12.4)*
Atlantic Canada 4,122 8.8 (7.9, 9.6) 792 14.7 (10.9, 18.5)* 1,119 11.0 (8.9, 13.1) 5,346 10.0 (9.1, 10.9)*
Males 1,800 9.3 (8.0, 10.6) 339 18.3E (11.9, 24.7)* 510 9.7 (7.2, 12.3) 2,360 11.7 (10.2, 13.2)*
Females 2,322 8.2 (7.3, 9.2) 453 11.3E (7.4, 15.2) 609 12.2 (9.1, 15.3)* 2,986 8.4 (7.4, 9.3)
Québec 7,595 11.8 (11.1, 12.6) 1,609 12.3 (10.7, 14.0) 2,556 11.1 (9.5, 12.7) 3,914 12.2 (11.2, 13.2)
Males 3,642 12.9 (11.6, 14.2) 751 14.5 (11.5, 17.5) 1,192 12.1 (9.8, 14.3) 1,839 12.3 (10.8, 13.9)
Females 3,953 10.8 (9.9, 11.6) 585 10.0 (8.5, 11.6) 1,364 10.1 (8.0, 12.2) 2,075 12.1 (10.8, 13.5)
Ontario 9,875 15.2 (14.3, 16.2) 2,514 12.0 (10.8, 13.2)* 3,927 13.0 (11.8, 14.3)* 7,182 11.9 (11.0, 12.8)*
Males 4,548 16.3 (14.9, 17.7) 1,186 12.6 (10.8, 14.5)* 1,765 14.1 (12.2, 16.0) 3,216 12.1 (10.8, 13.4)*
Females 5,327 14.2 (13.1, 15.4) 1,328 11.4 (10.1, 12.8)* 2,162 12.0 (10.3, 13.7)* 3,966 11.8 (10.5, 13.1)*
Prairie Provinces 7,742 11.9 (11.1, 12.6) 1,592 13.4 (11.6, 15.3) 2,474 11.6 (10.4, 12.9) 7,731 11.4 (10.6, 12.3)
Males 3,705 12.9 (11.7, 14.1) 757 16.5 (13.7, 19.3)* 1,134 13.4 (11.3, 15.5) 3,582 12.2 (11.0, 13.5)
Females 4,037 10.9 (10.0, 11.7) 835 10.4 (7.9, 12.8) 1,340 9.8 (8.5, 11.1) 4,149 10.6 (9.5, 11.7)
British Columbia 4,706 18.4 (17.1, 19.7) 961 18.2 (15.8, 20.6) 1,383 18.5 (16.0, 21.1) 2,624 15.2 (13.8, 16.7)*
Males 2,203 18.5 (16.5, 20.5) 452 18.9 (15.3, 22.5) 590 20.8 (16.5, 25.0) 1,202 16.9 (14.7, 19.1)
Females 2,503 18.2 (16.6, 19.8) 509 17.5 (14.3, 20.7) 792 16.4 (13.9, 18.8) 1,422 13.6 (11.8, 15.4)*
65+ years
Canada-wide 16,053 9.3 (8.7, 9.9) 6,465 11.7 (10.7, 12.6)* 14,202 11.1 (10.3, 11.9)* 18,945 10.0 (9.4, 10.5)
Males 7,067 10.0 (9.1, 10.9) 2,821 13.0 (11.5, 14.5)* 6,063 12.1 (10.8, 13.4)* 8,254 10.7 (9.8, 11.5)
Females 8,986 8.7 (8.0, 9.4) 3,644 10.5 (9.3, 11.7)* 8,139 10.3 (9.3, 11.3)* 10,691 9.4 (8.6, 10.1)
Atlantic Canada 2,259 5.1 (4.3, 5.9) 1,859 7.5 (6.2, 8.7)* 4,509 7.9 (7.0, 8.8)* 4,113 7.1 (6.2, 7.9)*
Males 1,002 5.4 (4.2, 6.6) 824 8.8 (6.9, 10.6)* 1,933 9.7 (8.1, 11.2)* 1,788 8.5 (7.0, 10.0)*
Females 1,257 4.8 (3.7, 5.9) 1,035 6.3 (4.8, 7.8) 2,576 6.4 (5.4, 7.4)* 2,325 5.8 (4.9, 6.6)
Québec 3,582 7.4 (6.6, 8.2) 907 10.2 (8.6, 11.8)* 1,762 7.7 (6.5, 8.9) 2,641 9.4 (8.4, 10.4)*
Males 1,613 8.0 (6.7, 9.3) 419 10.9 (7.9, 13.8) 779 8.5 (6.4, 10.7) 1,156 10.2 (8.6, 11.7)*
Females 1,969 6.9 (5.9, 7.8) 488 9.6 (7.5, 11.7)* 983 7.0 (5.6, 8.5) 1,485 8.6 (7.4, 9.9)*
Ontario 4,890 9.4 (8.2, 10.5) 1,357 12.1 (10.3, 13.9)* 2,966 11.8 (10.1, 13.5)* 5,430 9.2 (8.3, 10.2)
Males 2,098 10.4 (8.6, 12.2) 591 14.7 (11.7, 17.8)* 1,265 12.7 (10.1, 15.4) 2,347 9.3 (7.9, 10.7)
Females 2,792 8.5 (7.1, 9.8) 766 9.9 (7.8, 12.0) 1,701 11.0 (8.9, 13.1) 3,083 9.1 (7.8, 10.5)
Prairie Provinces 3,064 8.3 (7.1, 9.4) 1,715 10.4 (8.5, 12.4) 3,413 9.7 (8.5, 10.8) 4,669 11.0 (9.5, 12.6)*
Males 1,341 9.1 (7.4, 10.8) 706 13.3 (9.6, 16.9)* 1,428 10.9 (9.0, 12.7) 2,040 13.0 (11.1, 14.8)*
Females 1,723 7.5 (6.0, 9.0) 1,009 8.0 (6.3, 9.7) 1,985 8.6 (7.1, 10.1) 2,629 9.3 (7.0, 11.6)
British Columbia 2,258 16.1 (14.3, 17.8) 627 16.6 (13.8, 19.4) 1,552 18.7 (16.4, 21.1) 2,092 13.5 (11.8, 15.3)*
Males 1,013 15.8 (13.3, 18.4) 281 14.0 (10.2, 17.9) 658 19.1 (15.6, 22.5) 923 13.8 (11.0, 16.5)
Females 1,245 16.3 (14.1, 18.5) 346 18.9 (14.9, 22.9) 894 18.4 (15.3, 21.5) 1,169 13.3 (11.2, 15.4)
DOI: 10.7717/peerj.16913/table-5

Notes:

Data are presented as mean (95% CI).

Significantly different from 2018, p <0.05.
interpret with caution, co-efficient of variation >16.6.

School-related MVPA

Nationally, school-related MVPA was significantly lower in the fall of 2020 and 2021 when compared to 2018 for both genders (all p < 0.05) (Table 6). School-related MVPA was significantly reduced in the fall of 2020 for boys in the Prairie Provinces, girls in BC, and both genders in Ontario (all p < 0.05). In the fall of 2021, school-related MVPA was significantly reduced from 2018 levels in Québec females and both genders in Ontario, with no significant changes seen in any other groups.

Table 6:
Minutes per day spent engaging in school-related physical activity before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2018 Jan–Mar 2020 Sept–Dec 2020 2021
n Estimate n Estimate n Estimate n Estimate
12–17 years
Canada-wide 3,952 19.1 (18.0, 20.3) 911 22.0 (19.9, 24.0)* 1,573 13.0 (11.6, 14.5)* 3,501 13.8 (12.8, 14.9)*
Males 2,024 21.1 (19.3, 22.8) 465 23.6 (20.7, 26.5) 813 14.6 (12.4, 16.8)* 1,809 16.4 (14.7, 18.2)*
Females 1,928 17.0 (15.4, 18.6) 446 20.2 (17.4, 22.9) 760 11.4 (9.5, 13.3)* 1,692 11.2 (10.0, 12.4)*
Atlantic Canada 496 16.2 (13.5, 18.8) 123 16.0 (12.2, 19.8) 170 12.1 (8.8, 15.4) 422 13.0 (10.6, 15.4)
Males 258 18.0 (14.1, 21.9) 62 15.9E (10.7, 21.1) 81 12.0E (6.8, 17.1) 217 14.8 (11.2, 18.3)
Females 238 14.1 (10.7, 17.5) 61 16.2E (10.6, 21.8) 89 12.2E (7.9, 16.5) 205 11.1 (7.8, 14.4)
Québec 843 19.4 (17.1, 21.8) 206 23.3 (19.4, 27.2) 386 17.6 (14.6, 20.6) 792 13.7 (11.5, 16.0)*
Males 417 19.5 (16.7, 22.4) 107 21.5 (15.7, 27.2) 190 19.8 (15.5, 24.2) 393 14.9 (11.0, 18.7)
Females 426 19.4 (15.6, 23.2) 99 25.2 (20.1, 30.2) 196 15.4 (11.3, 19.5) 399 12.6 (10.1, 15.1)*
Ontario 1,185 18.5 (16.3, 20.6) 258 20.8 (17.0, 24.6) 413 10.3 (7.6, 12.9)* 1,003 9.8 (8.1, 11.5)*
Males 618 20.6 (17.4, 23.8) 137 24.5 (18.9, 30.0) 212 10.2E (6.4, 13.9)* 526 13.1 (10.3, 16.0)*
Females 567 16.2 (13.5, 19.0) 121 16.8 (11.8, 21.8) 201 10.4E (6.7, 14.0)* 477 6.4 (4.7, 8.0)*
Prairie Provinces 896 20.5 (18.0, 23.0) 196 23.7 (19.6, 27.9) 446 14.3 (11.7, 17.0)* 767 18.6 (16.1, 21.2)
Males 458 23.8 (19.9, 27.6) 92 23.1 (18.1, 28.2) 245 16.0 (12.0, 20.0)* 391 20.6 (16.6, 24.6)
Females 438 16.9 (14.0, 19.9) 104 24.4 (17.7, 31.1)* 201 12.6 (8.9, 16.3) 376 16.6 (13.4, 19.8)
British Columbia 532 20.1 (17.0, 23.1) 128 23.5 (18.6, 28.5) 158 12.5 (8.8, 16.1)* 517 19.6 (16.2, 23.0)
Males 273 22.6 (17.8, 27.5) 67 29.3 (22.6, 36.0) 85 18.8E (12.3, 25.3) 282 23.5 (18.1, 28.9)
Females 259 17.4 (13.9, 20.9) 61 17.5 (10.1, 24.9) 73 5.7E (2.6, 8.8)* 235 15.7 (11.8, 19.6)
DOI: 10.7717/peerj.16913/table-6

Notes:

Data are presented as mean (95% CI).

Significantly different from 2018, p <0.05.
interpret with caution, co-efficient of variation >16.6.

Occupational/household MVPA

Although there was excessive variability to perform statistical testing for examine occupational/household MVPA at the regional level among youth, nationally this form of activity increased in 2021 (p < 0.001), but not the fall of 2020 (p =0.71), when compared to 2018 in this age group (Table 7). Among adults 18–64 years national trends saw no change in the fall of 2020, with a significant decrease seen in males only (p <  0.05). Atlantic Canada observed a significant decrease among women in the fall of 2020, and among both genders in the fall of 2021 (all p < 0.05). Ontario also saw a significant reduction among males in the fall of 2021 (all p <  0.05). There were no other significant changes observed in any region for this age group (all p > 0.05). Among adults 65+ years, the national trend was for a significant increase in household and occupational MVPA for both genders in both the fall of 2020 and in 2021 (all p < 0.05). At the regional level, significant increases in the fall of 2020 were seen among females in Québec and the Prairie Provinces, and among males in Ontario (all p < 0.05). In the fall of 2021, we observed significant increases in occupational and household MVPA for both males and females in the Prairie Provinces, females in Québec, and for BC overall (but not in either gender individually) (all p < 0.05).

Table 7:
Minutes per day spent engaging in household and occupational physical activity before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2018 Jan–Mar 2020 Sept–Dec 2020 2021
n Estimate n Estimate n Estimate n Estimate
12–17 years
Canada-wide 3,952 4.9 (4.3, 5.4) 911 4.6E (3.0, 6.2) 1,573 5.1 (3.9, 6.4) 3,501 6.9 (5.9, 7.9)*
Males 2,024 5.4 (4.6, 6.2) 465 6.0E (3.2, 8.7) 813 5.7E (3.7, 7.7) 1,809 7.7 (6.1, 9.4)*
Females 1,928 4.3 (3.5, 5.1) 446 3.2E (1.5, 4.8) 760 4.5 (3.0, 5.9) 1,692 6.0 (4.8, 7.2)*
Atlantic Canada 496 4.7E (2.8, 6.6) 123 4.3E (1.8, 6.7) 170 422 6.4E (4.0, 8.8)
Males 258 5.2E (2.6, 7.8) 62 81 217 7.8E (4.1, 11.5)
Females 238 4.2E (1.7, 6.6) 61 89 205 5.0E (2.0, 8.0)
Québec 843 4.5 (3.3, 5.7) 206 386 3.2E (1.4, 4.9) 792 7.1E (4.4, 9.8)
Males 417 6.6 (4.5, 8.7) 107 1.8 (0.6, 2.9) 190 393 9.1E (4.3, 14.0)
Females 426 2.3E (1.3, 3.4) 99 196 3.6E (1.5, 5.6) 399 5.1E (2.8, 7.3)
Ontario 1,185 3.8 (3.0, 4.7) 258 6.2E (2.5, 9.9) 413 5.7E (3.1, 8.3) 1,003 5.5 (4.2, 6.9)
Males 618 4.1 (2.9, 5.4) 137 212 6.9E (2.7, 11.2) 526 5.2 (3.8, 6.7)
Females 567 3.5E (2.4, 4.7) 121 201 477 5.9E (3.7, 8.0)
Prairie Provinces 896 6.9 (5.4, 8.4) 196 4.6E (2.2, 7.1) 446 4.3 (3.0, 5.7) 767 10.3 (7.4, 13.2)
Males 458 5.5 (3.8, 7.1) 92 7.3E (2.7, 12.0) 245 4.2E (2.3, 6.1) 391 11.9E (7.4, 16.4)
Females 438 8.5 (5.8, 11.2) 104 201 4.4E (2.6, 6.3) 376 8.6 (5.1, 12.1)
British Columbia 532 5.6 (4.0, 7.1) 128 3.0E (1.2, 4.9) 158 8.2E (4.4, 11.9) 517 5.5 (3.5, 7.4)
Males 273 7.6E (5.1, 10.1) 67 85 8.9E (3.1, 14.7) 282 6.4E (3.8, 9.0)
Females 259 3.5 (1.6, 5.4) 61 73 7.3E (2.8, 11.8) 235 4.5E (1.7, 7.4)
18–64 years
Canada-wide 34,040 16.6 (16.0, 17.2) 7,468 13.5 (12.6, 14.5)* 11,459 15.9 (14.9, 16.8) 26,797 16.0 (15.4, 16.6)
Males 15,898 20.8 (19.8, 21.7) 3,485 16.5 (14.9, 18.1)* 5,191 19.4 (17.8, 21.1) 12,199 19.2 (18.3, 20.2)*
Females 18,142 12.4 (11.8, 13.0) 3,983 10.6 (9.4, 11.7)* 6,268 12.3 (11.3, 13.2) 14,598 12.7 (11.9, 13.5)
Atlantic Canada 4,122 23.2 (21.5, 24.8) 792 19.3 (15.8, 22.8) 1,119 18.7 (16.0, 21.5)* 5,346 18.8 (17.5, 20.2)*
Males 1,800 27.7 (25.1, 30.3) 339 24.9 (19.4, 30.4) 510 22.6 (17.6, 27.5) 2,360 22.5 (20.4, 24.7)*
Females 2,322 18.8 (16.8, 20.7) 453 13.9 (10.0, 17.8)* 609 15.1 (12.5, 17.7)* 2,986 15.3 (13.7, 16.8)*
Québec 7,595 13.7 (12.7, 14.8) 1,609 12.9 (11.0, 14.8) 2,556 13.2 (11.4, 15.0) 3,914 13.4 (12.1, 14.7)
Males 3,642 18.0 (16.4, 19.7) 751 18.5 (15.0, 22.0) 1,192 16.9 (13.9, 19.9) 1,839 17.3 (15.1, 19.6)
Females 3,953 9.3 (8.1, 10.5) 585 7.2 (5.7, 8.6)* 1,364 9.3 (7.4, 11.3) 2,075 9.4 (8.1, 10.6)
Ontario 9,875 15.4 (14.4, 16.4) 2,514 11.8 (10.3, 13.4)* 3,927 14.7 (13.1, 16.2) 7,182 14.7 (13.7, 15.8)
Males 4,548 19.6 (17.9, 21.3) 1,186 13.4 (10.8, 16.1)* 1,765 18.3 (15.6, 21.0) 3,216 16.5 (15.1, 18.0)*
Females 5,327 11.3 (10.3, 12.3) 1,328 10.3 (8.4, 12.2) 2,162 11.1 (9.4, 12.7) 3,966 13.0 (11.4, 14.6)
Prairie Provinces 7,742 19.7 (18.5, 21.0) 1,592 14.8 (12.6, 17.0)* 2,474 17.9 (16.1, 19.6) 7,731 18.9 (17.7, 20.1)
Males 3,705 23.9 (21.9, 25.9) 757 16.5 (13.3, 19.7)* 1,134 20.9 (17.9, 23.8) 3,582 23.0 (21.1, 24.9)
Females 4,037 15.4 (3.8, 16.9) 835 13.0 (10.2, 15.9) 1,340 14.8 (12.7, 17.0) 4,149 14.7 (13.3, 16.0)
British Columbia 4,706 17.5 (16.1, 18.9) 961 15.3 (12.6, 17.9) 1,383 19.8 (16.9, 22.6) 2,624 18.4 (16.5, 20.4)
Males 2,203 21.2 (19.0, 23.4) 452 18.6 (14.0, 23.1) 590 23.8 (18.6, 29.0) 1,202 23.4 (20.1, 26.6)
Females 2,503 13.8 (12.1, 15.5) 509 12.0 (8.6, 15.4) 792 15.8 (12.8, 18.8) 1,422 13.6 (11.6, 15.7)
65+ years
Canada-wide 16,053 8.4 (7.8, 8.9) 6,465 6.5 (5.7, 7.3)* 14,202 10.1 (9.4, 10.8)* 18,945 10.2 (9.6, 10.8)*
Males 7,067 9.9 (9.1, 10.8) 2,821 7.4 (6.3, 8.6)* 6,063 12.2 (11.0, 13.4)* 8,254 11.8 (10.9, 12.7)*
Females 8,986 7.0 (6.2, 7.8) 3,644 5.7 (4.7, 6.7) 8,139 8.2 (7.4, 9.1)* 10,691 8.8 (8.0, 9.6)*
Atlantic Canada 2,259 11.5 (9.9, 13.1) 1,859 9.8 (8.4, 11.1) 4,509 11.5 (10.3, 12.8) 4,113 12.2 (10.9, 13.5)
Males 1,002 15.0 (12.4, 17.5) 824 11.5 (9.4, 13.6)* 1,933 14.7 (12.6, 16.8) 1,788 15.6 (13.3, 17.9)
Females 1,257 8.4 (6.6, 10.3) 1,035 8.3 (6.4, 10.2) 2,576 8.8 (7.4, 10.3) 2,325 9.2 (7.7, 10.7)
Québec 3,582 6.3 (5.5, 7.0) 907 5.7 (4.2, 7.3) 1,762 7.6 (6.3, 8.8) 2,641 7.7 (6.6, 8.8)*
Males 1,613 8.5 (7.2, 9.9) 419 6.6E (4.1, 9.0) 779 8.9 (6.6, 11.1) 1,156 8.5 (6.8, 10.2)
Females 1,969 4.3 (3.5, 5.1) 488 5.0E (3.2, 6.7) 983 6.4 (4.9, 8.0)* 1,485 6.9 (5.5, 8.3)*
Ontario 4,890 8.2 (7.0, 9.4) 1,357 5.8 (4.3, 7.3)* 2,966 10.0 (8.6, 11.4) 5,430 8.6 (7.7, 9.5)
Males 2,098 8.7 (7.1, 10.3) 591 6.8 (4.8, 8.8) 1,265 13.7 (11.2, 16.2)* 2,347 9.6 (8.2, 11.0)
Females 2,792 7.7 (6.0, 9.4) 766 4.9E (2.9, 7.0)* 1,701 6.9 (5.4, 8.4) 3,083 7.8 (6.5, 9.0)
Prairie Provinces 3,064 8.8 (7.6, 10.0) 1,715 7.2 (5.5, 8.9) 3,413 11.7 (10.3, 13.1)* 4,669 13.9 (12.3, 15.6)*
Males 1,341 11.4 (9.2, 13.5) 706 7.9 (5.6, 10.1)* 1,428 13.4 (11.2, 15.5) 2,040 17.5 (14.8, 20.3)*
Females 1,723 6.5 (5.4, 7.6) 1,009 6.6 (4.1, 9.1) 1,985 10.2 (8.4, 12.0)* 2,629 10.8 (8.9, 12.7)*
British Columbia 2,258 10.4 (8.8, 11.9) 627 7.4 (5.7, 9.1)* 1,552 12.3 (10.2, 14.4) 2,092 13.7 (11.7, 15.8)*
Males 1,013 11.3 (9.1, 13.5) 281 8.2 (5.4, 10.9) 658 11.8 (9.1, 14.6) 923 15.3 (11.8, 18.7)
Females 1,245 9.5 (7.4, 11.7) 346 6.7 (4.8, 8.6) 894 12.7 (9.4, 16.0) 1,169 12.4 (9.9, 14.8)
DOI: 10.7717/peerj.16913/table-7

Notes:

Data are presented as mean (95% CI).

interpret with caution, co-efficient of variation >16.6. Empty cells not reported due to co-efficient of variation >33.3.
Significantly different from 2018, p <0.05.

Recreational screen time

Compared to 2018, the proportion of youth accumulating ≤2 h per day of recreational screen time per day in 2021 decreased significantly at the national level for both genders on both school days and non-school days (all p < 0.05) (Table 8, Fig. 2). Females in BC, and both genders in Ontario and Atlantic Canada were significantly less likely to meet recommendations on week- or weekend-days, while females in the Prairie Provinces were less likely to meet recommendations on weekends only.

Table 8:
Proportion of participants reporting ≤ 2 hours/day of recreational screen use before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Work/school days Non-work/non-school days
2018 2021 2018 2021
n Estimate n Estimate n Estimate n Estimate
12–17 years
Canada-wide 3,952 40.7 (38.4, 43.0) 3,501 29.1 (26.9, 31.5)* 3,952 21.4 (19.7, 23.2) 3,501 13.2 (11.6, 15.0)*
Males 2,024 37.8 (34.7, 40.9) 1,809 28.6 (25.4, 31.9)* 2,024 20.1 (17.8, 22.6) 1,809 14.0 (11.7, 16.8)*
Females 1,928 43.8 (40.4, 47.2) 1,692 29.8 (26.7, 33.1)* 1,928 22.8 (20.3, 25.5) 1,692 12.3 (10.2, 14.8)*
Atlantic Canada 496 46.8 (41.3, 52.4) 422 32.8 (26.9, 39.2)* 496 22.6 (18.5, 27.2) 422 12.3 (9.0, 16.4)*
Males 258 48.5 (40.8, 56.2) 217 34.9 (26.6, 44.2)* 258 22.9 (17.2, 29.8) 217 14.4 (9.7, 20.9)*
Females 238 45.1 (37.4, 53.1) 205 30.7 (22.9, 39.8)* 238 22.2 (16.8, 28.8) 205 9.9 (6.0, 15.8)*
Québec 843 37.2 (32.7, 41.9) 792 34.8 (30.2, 39.7) 843 17.3 (14.6, 20.5) 792 14.3 (11.3, 18.0)
Males 417 36.0 (30.0, 42.4) 393 30.8 (24.6, 37.7) 417 15.6 (11.9, 20.2) 393 13.7 (9.7, 19.0)
Females 426 38.5 (32.2, 45.2) 399 39.0 (32.1, 46.4) 426 19.1 (15.1, 23.8) 399 14.9 (10.7, 20.5)
Ontario 1,185 40.2 (36.0, 44.6) 1,003 22.6 (18.7, 27.1)* 1,185 22.1 (18.9, 25.6) 1,003 11.1 (8.3, 14.6)*
Males 618 36.3 (30.5, 42.4) 526 23.4 (17.8, 30.2)* 618 21.5 (17.0, 26.7) 526 13.1 (9.0, 18.6)*
Females 567 44.2 (38.0, 50.6) 477 21.8 (16.7, 27.9)* 567 22.7 (18.3, 27.9) 477 9.0 (5.7, 13.9)*
Prairie Provinces 896 42.6 (38.4, 47.0) 767 34.7 (29.9, 39.9)* 896 24.3 (21.0, 28.0) 767 17.1 (13.6, 21.2)*
Males 458 41.0 (35.3, 46.9) 391 32.6 (26.2, 39.7) 458 22.9 (18.6, 28.0) 391 16.5 (12.0, 22.3)
Females 438 44.4 (38.0, 51.0) 376 37.0 (30.0, 44.6) 438 25.8 (20.9, 31.3) 376 17.7 (13.1, 23.7)*
British Columbia 532 42.5 (36.6, 48.6) 517 29.8 (24.8, 35.3)* 532 21.0 (16.8, 26.0) 517 12.2 (9.4, 15.7)*
Males 273 35.7 (28.2, 44.1) 282 32.0 (24.9, 40.1) 273 17.6 (12.4, 24.4) 282 13.7 (9.6, 19.0)
Females 259 49.6 (40.8, 58.3) 235 27.7 (21.3, 35.1)* 259 24.7 (18.4, 32.3) 235 10.8 (7.4, 15.5)*
18–64 years
Canada-wide 34,040 53.9 (52.9, 55.0) 26,797 45.0 (43.9, 46.2)* 34,040 37.8 (36.9, 38.7) 26,797 28.0 (27.1, 29.0)*
Males 15,898 50.7 (49.3, 52.1) 12,199 42.9 (41.3, 44.6)* 15,898 35.5 (34.2, 36.7) 12,199 26.2 (24.9, 27.6)*
Females 18,142 57.6 (56.2, 59.0) 14,598 47.3 (45.7, 49.0)* 18,142 40.1 (38.9, 41.4) 14,598 29.8 (28.5, 31.2)*
Atlantic Canada 4,122 58.8 (56.3, 61.3) 5,346 49.1 (46.8, 51.4)* 4,122 37.6 (35.7, 39.6) 5,346 30.2 (28.4, 32.1)*
Males 1,800 55.9 (52.3, 59.4) 2,360 44.7 (41.3, 48.1)* 1,800 36.2 (33.4, 39.0) 2,360 28.4 (25.9, 31.1)*
Females 2,322 62.0 (58.7, 65.1) 2,986 53.8 (50.8, 56.9)* 2,322 39.0 (36.2, 41.8) 2,986 32.0 (29.6, 34.4)*
Québec 7,595 56.3 (54.4, 58.2) 3,914 46.6 (44.0, 49.1)* 7,595 36.6 (34.9, 38.3) 3,914 30.6 (28.5, 32.7)*
Males 3,642 54.0 (51.2, 56.7) 1,839 43.6 (39.8, 47.4)* 3,642 35.8 (33.4, 38.3) 1,839 29.2 (26.2, 32.4)*
Females 3,953 58.8 (56.2, 61.4) 2,075 50.0 (46.4, 53.5)* 3,953 37.4 (35.1, 39.8) 2,075 32.0 (29.2, 35.0)*
Ontario 9,875 52.4 (50.4, 54.3) 7,182 44.0 (42.0, 46.0)* 9,875 38.5 (36.8, 40.1) 7,182 27.0 (25.4, 28.7)*
Males 4,548 47.9 (45.3, 50.5) 3,216 42.7 (39.7, 45.6)* 4,548 35.3 (33.0, 37.7) 3,216 24.5 (22.1, 26.9)*
Females 5,327 57.5 (54.8, 60.1) 3,966 45.4 (42.5, 48.3)* 5,327 41.5 (39.3, 43.7) 3,966 29.6 (27.2, 32.0)*
Prairie Provinces 7,742 53.2 (51.3, 55.1) 7,731 44.5 (42.7, 46.3)* 7,742 37.1 (35.4, 38.8) 7,731 27.3 (25.8, 28.8)*
Males 3,705 52.7 (49.9, 55.5) 3,582 44.0 (41.4, 46.6)* 3,705 36.3 (33.9, 38.7) 3,582 25.8 (23.8, 28.0)*
Females 4,037 53.9 (51.2, 56.5) 4,149 45.0 (42.4, 47.6)* 4,037 37.9 (35.5, 40.3) 4,149 28.7 (26.7, 30.8)*
British Columbia 4,706 53.4 (51.1, 55.8) 2,624 44.6 (41.5, 47.7)* 4,706 39.1 (36.9, 41.2) 2,624 26.7 (24.5, 29.1)*
Males 2,203 48.5 (45.2, 51.9) 1,202 40.6 (36.5, 44.9)* 2,203 33.7 (30.7, 36.8) 1,202 25.7 (22.5, 29.3)*
Females 2,503 59.1(55.6, 62.5) 1,422 49.0 (44.8, 53.3)* 2,503 44.4 (41.5, 47.3) 1,422 27.7 (24.6, 31.0)*
65+ years
Canada-wide 16,053 49.4 (45.9, 52.9) 18,945 37.8 (34.5, 41.2)* 16,053 29.4 (28.2, 30.6) 18,945 21.5 (20.5, 22.6)*
Males 7,067 49.0 (44.5, 53.6) 8,254 37.8 (33.5, 42.2)* 7,067 27.3 (25.7, 29.0) 8,254 21.1 (19.6, 22.7)*
Females 8,986 50.1 (44.2, 55.9) 10,691 37.9 (33.1, 42.9)* 8,986 31.2 (29.6, 32.9) 10,691 21.9 (20.5, 23.4)*
Atlantic Canada 2,259 56.0 (48.2, 63.5) 4,113 45.8 (39.3, 52.5)* 2,259 32.2 (29.7, 34.9) 4,113 27.5 (25.5, 29.5)*
Males 1,002 62.5 (51.5, 72.3) 1,788 46.0 (37.8, 54.5)* 1,002 32.9 (29.2, 36.9) 1,788 25.8 (22.9, 28.9)*
Females 1,257 46.1 (35.1, 57.6) 2,325 45.4 (36.2, 55.0) 1,257 31.6 (28.5, 34.9) 2,325 29.0 (26.3, 31.8)
Québec 3,582 45.6 (38.4, 53.1) 2,641 31.7 (24.9, 39.3)* 3,582 26.2 (24.2, 28.4) 2,641 19.6 (17.6, 21.7)*
Males 1,613 53.3 (43.8, 62.5) 1,156 35.4 (26.3, 45.8)* 1,613 25.4 (22.4, 28.7) 1,156 20.6 (17.8, 23.8)*
Females 1,969 36.5 (26.1, 48.4) 1,485 25.6 (17.3, 36.3) 1,969 27.0 (24.2, 30.0) 1,485 18.6 (15.9, 21.6)*
Ontario 4,890 49.6 (43.2, 56.1) 5,430 39.3 (33.6, 45.2)* 4,890 28.4 (26.2, 30.7) 5,430 21.3 (19.4, 23.3)*
Males 2,098 44.5 (36.4, 52.9) 2,347 38.3 (30.7, 46.5) 2,098 25.4 (22.4, 28.7) 2,347 21.6 (18.8, 24.8)
Females 2,792 57.9 (47.0, 68.1) 3,083 40.4 (32.3, 49.0)* 2,792 31.0 (27.7, 34.4) 3,083 20.9 (18.5, 23.6)*
Prairie Provinces 3,064 47.6 (41.8, 53.4) 4,669 40.7 (34.3, 47.5)* 3,064 30.3 (27.7, 33.0) 4,669 23.7 (21.5, 26.1)*
Males 1,341 46.2 (38.5, 54.1) 2,040 34.6 (27.8, 42.2)* 1,341 27.8 (24.0, 32.1) 2,040 20.7 (17.9, 23.8)*
Females 1,723 50.2 (41.2, 59.2) 2,629 49.8 (39.0, 60.7) 1,723 32.5 (29.2, 36.0) 2,629 26.4 (23.2, 29.8)*
British Columbia 2,258 54.2 (46.3, 61.8) 2,092 34.7 (27.2, 43.1)* 2,258 35.3 (32.4, 38.2) 2,092 20.2 (17.8, 22.9)*
Males 1,013 53.9 (43.5, 64.0) 923 39.5 (28.9, 51.1) 1,013 32.0 (27.9, 36.5) 923 18.6 (15.1, 22.6)*
Females 1,245 54.5 (43.1, 65.6) 1,169 28.8 (19.6, 40.2)* 1,245 38.2 (34.4, 42.1) 1,169 21.7 (18.4, 25.3)*
DOI: 10.7717/peerj.16913/table-8

Notes:

Data are presented as mean (95% CI).

Significantly different from 2018, p <0.05.
Proportion of Canadians accumulating ≤ 2 h per day of recreational screen use on work/school days across ages and regions.

Figure 2: Proportion of Canadians accumulating ≤ 2 h per day of recreational screen use on work/school days across ages and regions.

Among adults aged 18–64 years, the proportion of individuals accumulating ≤2 hours/day of recreational screen use on workdays and non-workdays decreased for all groups (all p < 0.05). Among adults 65+ years, work-day decreases were seen among males in Atlantic Canada, Québec, the Prairies, and among females in Ontario and BC. On non-workdays, decreases were seen among all groups except females in Atlantic Canada and males in Ontario. (all p < 0.05).

Discussion

The purpose of this article was to describe age- and gender-specific regional trends in MVPA and screen time for Canadians aged 12+ years from 2018 to 2021. Our results suggest substantial regional and age-related variations in how MVPA levels were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic across Canada. For recreational screen time, although the magnitude of changes varied across regions, a significant reduction in the proportion of individuals accumulating ≤2 h per day was seen in the majority of regions and age groups. The present study extends the previous reports of Colley & Watt (2022) and Colley and Saunders (Colley & Saunders, 2023a; Colley & Saunders, 2023b), all of which examined changes in MVPA and recreational screen time at the national level only.

When comparing all forms of MVPA, several trends become apparent. Among youth, Atlantic Canada and BC did not see a reduction in overall MVPA or active transportation levels in the fall of 2020 or 2021. Atlantic Canada was the only region which did not see a reduction in school-related MVPA in either 2020 or 2021, while BC was the only region which did not see a change in recreational MVPA levels when both genders were combined. There are a variety of potential explanations for the resilience of MVPA levels on the East and West coasts, including policy approaches (e.g., the “Atlantic Bubble” which limited the spread of COVID-19 early in the pandemic and allowed for less restrictions Patil, 2020; Bignami, 2021) and a relatively warm climate in BC which may make active transportation more feasible than other provinces. As noted earlier, Atlantic Canada and BC also experienced relatively lower levels of community transmission when compared to other parts of the country, which allowed for a greater level of “normalcy” in Atlantic Canada in particular, when compared to Québec, Ontario, and the Prairies in 2020. Limiting initial community spread in future pandemics may be one of the best ways to avoid disruptions to activity levels for residents within any given region.

Another trend identified in the data was that Ontario, Canada’s largest province, stood out as following a trend consistently worse than other regions. Ontario was the only province where the proportion of youth meeting MVPA recommendations and the amount of daily recreational MVPA remained depressed in the fall of 2021, when compared to 2018. Ontario was also one of two regions which did not observe an increase in adults aged 65+ years meeting the MVPA recommendation in 2021. As noted above, these trends may have been due to a number of factors, including rates of community transmission, the number and duration of restrictions, and the clarity of public health messaging. In particular, the low recreational MVPA, school-related MVPA and active transportation observed in Ontario among youth in 2021 may be partially due to relatively higher level of stringency of restrictions in Ontario at this time, when compared to other regions (Cameron-Blake et al., 2021). These restrictions included closing schools and both indoor and outdoor recreational facilities in April of 2021 (Canadian Institute for Health Information, 2023), greatly limiting opportunities for activity among youth. Future research should further investigate the relationship between specific policy approaches in each region and movement behaviours, to identify which decisions may have helped to support MVPA in Atlantic Canada and BC in 2020 and 2021.

The trajectory of MVPA from 2018 to 2021 differed markedly across age groups. While the proportion of youth meeting the MVPA recommendation decreased by 12 percentage points in the fall of 2020 and by 6 percentage points in 2021, it was relatively stable throughout the pandemic among adults aged 18–64 years and increased by 3 percentage points in the fall of 2021 among adults aged 65+ years. This is a remarkable difference that highlights the importance of considering the way that public health policies may have inequitable impacts on different age groups in future pandemics. Although there were clear differences in the trajectories of males and females at the national level, these were not as apparent at the regional level. Nationally, activity levels of female youth remained depressed in 2021, when compared to 2018, which was not observed in males of the same age. However, males and females in this age group followed similar trajectories in every individual region for both overall and recreational MVPA. This may be due to lack of sample size at the regional level, when compared to the national sample. It is also worth highlighting that while there were few obvious gender-related differences in the trajectories themselves, there remain clear differences in the total amount of MVPA and sedentary behaviour accumulated by males and females, respectively.

Although MVPA was more resilient in some regions and age groups than others, with very limited exceptions the sustained increases in recreational screen time were seen in all regions and age groups. This is concerning, given the links between high levels of recreational screen time and both physical and mental health (Carson et al., 2016; Ekelund et al., 2016; Saunders et al., 2020). These findings highlight the need for policy approaches to help limit the impacts of recreational screen time, as well as research to investigate the intended and unintended consequences of any such policies.

Strengths and limitations

The current study has several strengths and limitations. The CCHS is a large annual health survey, representative at national and sub-national levels, which has used consistent questions to ascertain MVPA and sedentary behaviour for Canadians aged 12+ years since 2015. To our knowledge this is the first such study to examine trajectories of MVPA and screen time across regions of Canada before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was limited by its reliance on self-reported MVPA and recreational screen time, both of which have are known to have potential sources of error and bias (Prince et al., 2008; Prince et al., 2020; Adamo et al., 2009). Due to sample size constraints at the regional level, we were not able to examine whether our findings differed across sociodemographic groups, different cultural groups, or levels of physical ability. The questionnaires used in this study did not ask about the types or timing of recreational screen time, both of which may influence the health impacts of screen use (Saunders et al., 2022a). Further, the psychometric properties of the questions used to assess MVPA and screen time in the CCHS have not been evaluated. Finally, we did not assess school- or work-related screen time, which likely increased during the pandemic as many schools and offices transitioned to schooling and working from home and may have different impacts on health and well-being (Kuzik et al., 2022; Saunders et al., 2022b).

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that the MVPA levels of Canadian youth dropped significantly after the onset of the pandemic, and these changes varied greatly across regions. Although some regional variation remained, activity levels of adults aged 18–64 were relatively stable in the fall of 2020 and 2021 and increased for adults aged 65+ years. Recreational screen use increased across all regions and age groups with very limited exceptions. These results highlight the differences and similarities in activity and screen time trajectories across the Canadian population and suggest the need for additional research to identify best practices for promoting healthy movement behaviours during future pandemics.

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