Schools: Canada’s Most Powerful Investment in National Wellbeing
Every day for twelve consecutive years, 1 in 5 Canadians—5.8 million children and youth—attend school.
Reach: Every child, family, and community across Canada.
Equity: Especially vital in rural, remote, and Indigenous communities.
Impact: A foundation for lifelong health, learning, and opportunity.
Investment: Schools are not just settings—they are a national strategy.
Why Schools Matter?
While provinces and territories hold authority over education (Constitution Act, 1867, Section 93), the federal government has both a role and responsibility to act when fairness, equity, and inclusion are at stake.
-Subsection 93(4) grants the federal Parliament the authority to engage when provincial action—or inaction—jeopardizes fairness or inclusion.
This is not about overreach.
The Federal Responsibility
It is about responsibility.
It is about responsibility.
A Call to Partnership.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s mandate letter calls for:
New ideas
Decisive action
Stronger partnerships with provinces, territories, Indigenous Peoples, and across sectors
The Canadian Healthy Schools Alliance is answering that call.
We are urging the federal government to harness the power of schools in advancing national priorities:
✔ Health & wellbeing
✔ Climate resilience
✔ Reconciliation
✔ Gender equality
✔ Innovation & skills development
✔ Economic prosperity
✔ Equity & justice
Global Alignment
Canada is not alone in this vision.
In 2024, the UN Secretary-General and the Global Network of Deans of Education emphasized:
Strengthening inter-ministerial collaboration
Establishing a whole-of-government vision
Scaling healthy school funding
Sustaining long-term intersectoral partnerships
Canada must join this global movement—by putting schools at the centre of national wellbeing.
Our Recommendations
The Canadian Healthy Schools Alliance calls on the Government of Canada to:
Recognize schools as a federal investment strategy for advancing health, equity, and resilience.
Ensure federal funding for Healthy Schools that support upstream prevention, equity, and reconciliation.
Reaffirm Canada’s responsibility to young people by ensuring equitable, high-quality learning environments coast to coast to coast.
Develop a long-term, coordinated national strategy to sustain intersectoral partnerships and bridge policy silos.
Commit to inter-ministerial collaboration between Health, Education, Indigenous Services, Families/Children, Finance, and Environment.
The Time to Act is now
Canada is facing overlapping crises—affordability, mental health, climate change, and inequality.
No single government, sector, or organization can meet these challenges alone.
Schools are the bridge.
They are the most effective, equitable, and enduring vehicle for national wellbeing.
- It is time for a federal recommitment to Canada’s young people.
Join us
We invite the Government of Canada, partners, and communities to work with us in advancing this vision.