YMCA national speaking tour kicks off in Sudbury

YMCA Canada CEO launches national tour in Sudbury, urging partnerships to tackle isolation and mental health crises amid declining community ties.

The president and CEO of YMCA Canada launched a national speaking tour in Greater Sudbury on Wednesday, discussing how local YMCAs can collaborate with community partners to tackle urgent issues.

Peter Dinsdale said the tour aims to address growing challenges in communities across the country.

“We are going to YMCAs across Canada really to talk about the challenges that communities are facing and to identify the isolation, the mental health crisis, the crisis coming out of COVID of communities now being engaged and really calling upon partners to come together so we can solve those problems together,” he said.

Little to no sense of community

Recent YMCA research found one in six Canadians report little to no sense of community and connection.

Lorrie Turnbull, the CEO of YMCA Northeastern Ontario, told CTV News that the event was meant to foster collaboration.

“The purpose of today was to create connections and to spark ideas so that we can be more meaningful and impactful in our work in our communities across northeastern Ontario,” she said.

Attendees were encouraged to share ideas on building stronger communities through suggestion boards.

Sudbury Mayor Paul Lefebvre praised the YMCA’s role in the city.

“This is a facility that everyone can use from the young to the not so young, right, and it is a great pillar in our community to offer these programs,” he said.

Dinsdale highlighted the severe effects of social isolation.

“Canadians are now more lonely than ever. We know the impact of isolation is like smoking 15 cigarettes a day. The stigma around mental health and people not getting support — so that is something that we are really vested in at the YMCA,” he said.

“It’s not just meant to be around health, fitness and aquatics. When we do our work right, we are centres of community where everyone can come together.”

Dinsdale said he hopes the event inspires community partners to strengthen collaborations and find new ways to address local challenges.