“Health promoting universities and colleges infuse health into everyday operations, business practices and academic mandates"
— the Okanagan Charter: Shared Aspirations
Université de Sherbrooke – Campus de la santé adopts the Okanagan Charter
May 4, 2023
[FR] À la Faculté de médecine et des sciences de la santé de l’Université de Sherbrooke, la santé et le mieux-être de notre communauté sont au cœur de nos actions et un objectif-phare de notre planification stratégique. Afin de soutenir la démarche en santé durable, nous avons signé la Charte de l’Okanagan et nous nous engageons à intégrer la santé et le mieux-être à tous les aspects de notre culture facultaire ainsi qu’à prendre action et établir des collaborations pour promouvoir la santé, à l’échelle locale, nationale et mondiale…
[EN] At the University of Sherbrook’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, the health and wellbeing of our community are at the heart of our actions and a key objective of our strategic planning. In order to support a sustainable health approach, we have signed the Okanagan Charter and commit to integrating health and wellbeing into all aspects of our faculty culture, as well as taking action and establishing collaborations to promote health at the local, national, and global levels…
International Health Promoting Universities & Colleges Steering Group Announces New Translations of the Okanagan Charter in Four Languages
May 4, 2023
Four new translations of the Okanagan Charter are now available online through the University of British Columbia Library’s Open Collections. The Charter is a globally recognized framework that aims to promote health and wellbeing on higher education campuses. With the addition of these new translations in Bulgarian, French, German, and Spanish, the Charter is now accessible to millions of people, supporting the adoption of healthier and more sustainable practices in higher education institutions worldwide.
AFMC prioritizes health & well-being with endorsement of the Okanagan Charter
November 4, 2022
Dal reinforces commitment to health promotion by signing the Okanagan Charter
August 22, 2022
Vancouver Community College adopts the Okanagan Charter and unveils their VCC Mental Health and Well-being Framework
May 18, 2022
Collège de Bois-de-Boulogne becomes first Collège in Quebec to adopt the Okanagan Charter
May 2, 2022
Le Collège de Bois-de-Boulogne concrétise son engagement à prioriser la santé et le bien-être de sa communauté dans toutes les sphères de ses activités en ratifiant la Charte de l’Okanagan, et devient ainsi le premier établissement d’enseignement collégial au Québec à joindre ce mouvement…
College of the Rockies adopts the Okanagan Charter
December 8, 2021
This week, in an official signing ceremony attended by employees and students, College of the Rockies President Paul Vogt officially signed the Okanagan Charter: An International Charter for Health Promoting Universities and Colleges, signifying the institution’s continued commitment to health and wellbeing at its campuses.
NOSM adopts the Okanagan Charter
Prioritizing health and wellbeing is a leading priority as a medical university.
The Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) becomes an official signatory of the Okanagan Charter. “The health and well-being of NOSM learners, faculty and staff is a top priority as we transition from a medical school to a university,” says Dr. Sarita Verma, NOSM Dean, President and CEO. “Research shows us that individuals who are well are more creative, engaged, productive, and have a stronger sense of community. It’s important for the entire NOSM community to focus on wellness as we look to the future—a future where access to equitable, quality health care for all Northerners is a reality.”
Bow Valley College adopts the Okanagan Charter
Congratulations to Bow Valley College on becoming the latest Canadian post-secondary institution to adopt the Okanagan Charter.
Université Laval becomes the first Francophone university to sign the Okanagan Charter
Université Laval becomes the first Francophone university to sign the Okanagan Charter and thus to join the international movement of promoting health. The commitment to the Okanagan Charter represents for Université Laval a concrete action in its more global sustainable health approach. This is an essential step in structuring the approach and setting up action plans since the values, principles and objectives of the Charter will serve as a framework for all sustainable health initiatives.
University of Ottawa Adopts the Okanagan Charter
Congratulations to the University of Ottawa for becoming the latest Canadian post-secondary institution to adopt the Okanagan Charter and make a formal commitment to embedding health and wellbeing across their campus!
Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) signs the Okanagan Charter
Congratulations to the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology for becoming the latest Canadian post-secondary institution to adopt the Okanagan Charter!
MacEwan University is announcing another step forward in strengthening its commitment to the health and well-being of students, faculty and staff by formally adopting the Okanagan Charter: An International Charter for Health Promoting Universities and Colleges.
Sheridan College signs the Okanagan Charter
(Oakville, ON) Jan. 26, 2020: At a virtual ceremony earlier today, Sheridan announced its participation as a signatory of the Okanagan Charter, which calls on Canadian postsecondary institutions to embed health into all aspects of campus culture and to lead health promotion action and collaboration locally and globally. Wellness and health promotion have long been prioritized at Sheridan, and the signing of the Charter accompanied by the launch of a campus-wide wellness strategy, affirms its commitment to ongoing action to improve wellness for employees and students
Leveraging the Okanagan Charter to Bounce Forward From the Three Major Crises of our Time: COVID-19 Pandemic, Systemic Racism, and the Climate Emergency
A Canadian Post-Secondary Leadership Virtual Dialogue Series
Post-secondary institutions face complex issues around health and wellbeing, including the implications surrounding the global COVID-19 pandemic, the climate emergency, and the renewed urgency to address systemic racism for historically racialized communities.
The Okanagan Charter for Health Promoting Universities & Colleges provides us with a common language, principles, and framework to address these pressing systemic issues as it calls on higher education institutions to embed health into everyday operations, business practices and academic mandates.
The Canadian Health Promoting Campus Network and the Universities of British Columbia, Waterloo, and McGill invite you to join them in a dialogue that will explore the following questions:
Collective impact and Multi-solving - How can universities approach human rights, wellbeing, and sustainability in a unified way that advances all agendas? How can we move societal change beyond intention and into everyday practices?
Bridging the divide - What mechanisms are needed to bridge the academic and operations divide? How do we link policy and operations to achieve results?
Engaging leadership - How do we convene conversations with various levels of leadership across the university?
Addressing systems - How can we structure this work to focus less on individual actions and instead on shifting policy, culture, and societal change?
The Okanagan Charter - What is the role of the Charter in this work for Higher Education?
Thriving Beyond Campuses: Well-being in Learning Environments, November 10 & 12, 2020
SFU Health Promotion, UBC Health Promotion and Education, and BCcampus are partnering to host Thriving Beyond Campuses: Wellbeing in Learning Environments, a dialogue series connecting BC post-secondary schools. Thriving Beyond Campuses is a four-part dialogue series for faculty, educators, and staff to connect on the topic of how well-being relates to teaching and learning and will begin with a keynote session on November 10. Find more information and register now.
Health Promoting Campus: What is Your Role? December 10, 1-2pm (Eastern)
How campus life, student affairs, health promotion, campus planning, and higher education leaders in all sectors of campus can use the Okanagan Charter as a powerful call to action to embed human and ecological considerations for health and wellbeing in our campus plans and policies, to create environments which support learning and personal development and culture of well-being. This session will help leaders and administrators understand what it means to become a health promoting campus and how to use the Okanagan Charter to embed wellbeing in campus planning as an important first step to creating a campus plan for wellbeing.
After the webinar what are the 4 things attendees will be able to do at their institutions:
Know why being a health promoting campus matters.
Understand the Okanagan Charter and why it is ground breaking.
Articulate how the campus physical environment plays a role in becoming a health promoting campus?
Advocate for a using collective impact frameworks, campus master plans, and policies for creating well-being in settings, communities, and individuals.
Webinar: Achieving a Healthy Workplace in an Academic Setting, Nov 27th, 2019, 11am-12 :00 noon
The Okanagan Charter was designed to promote health within universities and colleges, through a call to action and practical framework that reflects best practice concepts, processes and principles. Learn how two industry leading Universities are breaking ground in their adoption of healthy workplace strategies using Excellence Canada’s Standards of Excellence, and making progress against their commitment to the Okanagan Charter while gaining national recognition under the Canada Awards for Excellence program.
Facilitated by Erin Dick, Organizational Excellence Advisor, Excellence Canada and joined by guest speakers:
Matt Dolf, Chair, Canadian Health Promoting Campuses Network & Director, UBC Wellbeing, University of British Columbia
Don O’Leary, Vice President, Finance, Administration and Risk, University of Guelph
Katrina Di Gravio, Director, Organizational and Human Development, University of Waterloo
Jennifer McCorriston, Associate Director, Health Promotion, University of Waterloo
Laurentian University becomes the 20th Canadian campus to adopt the Okanagan Charter
On June 25, 2019, Laurentian University committed to becoming a member of the Canadian Health Promoting Campus Network by pledging to commit to a set of health promoting initiatives inspired by the calls to action and the principles of the Okanagan Charter.
University formally commits to embedding health and wellness in campus culture.
Queen’s has made a formal commitment to the health and wellness of students, staff, and faculty by joining universities from around the world in adopting the Okanagan Charter: An International Charter for Health Promoting Universities and Colleges.
Langara College launches Mental Health Framework and signs Okanagan Charter
At a ceremony held on November 14, 2018, Langara College became the first college in British Columbia to sign on to the Okanagan Charter. The Charter calls on post-secondary institutions to embed health into all aspects of campus culture for students, staff, and faculty. Over 20 universities and colleges across Canada have signed the Charter to promote action and collaboration, locally and globally.
Concordia University releases Student Health and Wellbeing Review and adopts Okanagan Charter
Concordia has released a report that will chart a new course for the delivery of health and wellness on campus. The Student Health and Wellbeing Review outlines a series of recommendations that will touch on all aspects of curriculum, student service operations and university policy and reflects Concordia’s ongoing transformation into a next-generation university. Read more about the report.
In addition, Concordia will adopt the Okanagan Charter that was developed by 380 researchers, practitioners, administrators, students and policymakers from 45 countries as Concordia works towards the goal of embedding health and wellness into the everyday operations of universities and colleges.
Concordia is also the first Quebec university to adopt the charter and join the network of Canadian Health Promoting Campuses.
CACUSS Board of Directors endorses Okanagan Charter in support of health promoting campuses
Canadian campuses and stakeholders continue leading efforts to improve health and well-being of students, faculty, staff.
A year after six Canadian campuses were the first to adopt the Okanagan Charter: An International Charter for Health Promoting Universities and Colleges (the Charter), four leading organizations including the Canadian Association of College and University Student Services (CACUSS) have endorsed it. Next week the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA BC), Healthy Campus Alberta, and the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) will be the first to officially endorse the charter, as a show of support, and to encourage their communities of practice to join the conversation.
NIRSA Board endorses Okanagan Charter for health promoting schools
At their recent Board meeting, the NIRSA Board of Directors endorsed the Okanagan Charter, a document that was crafted to aid in the promotion of health and wellbeing on college campuses around the world.
The Charter’s aim is to help college campuses promote health and wellbeing by providing a framework that can be used as a guide for integrating a culture of health and leading health promotion both locally and globally. The goal is to provide a resource for colleges looking to implement health and wellbeing promotion into all policies and practices, including everyday operations, business practices, and academic mandates. As of now, the Charter has been signed by ten universities, all of which are Canadian institutions—including NIRSA member institutions Mount Royal University and McMaster University.
CMHA endorses Okanagan Charter in show of support for health promoting campuses
Canadian campuses and stakeholders continue leading efforts to improve health and well-being of students, faculty, staff
A year after six Canadian campuses were the first to adopt the Okanagan Charter: An International Charter for Health Promoting Universities and Colleges (the Charter), four leading organizations—including the Canadian Mental Health Association, BC Division (CMHA BC)—are endorsing it.