Tips For Maintaining A Healthy Lifestyle In Canada

We’ve partnered with Cigna Global, a provider of award-winning health insurance for individuals and families living abroad, to provide tailored tips to help newcomers develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle in Canada. Read on to learn more about the lifestyle in Canada, and how you can build a better lifestyle for yourself and your family.

Key takeaways

• Your lifestyle has a significant impact on your health, preventing many chronic conditions. Choosing the right health insurance cover can support you on your journey to better health.
• Canada’s wilderness areas and cities offer amazing opportunities to develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
• SMART goals, healthy routines, and accountability partners can help you build and maintain a better lifestyle for the long-term. Cigna Global’s plans offer optional health and wellbeing benefits, giving you access to telephonic wellness coaching and behavioral health counsellors to support any lifestyle changes.

The perks of a healthy lifestyle for newcomers to Canada

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle reduces risk of illness and chronic pain caused by inactivity, plus good nutrition and regular exercise can boost energy and improve sleep and general wellbeing.

A healthy routine incorporating exercise can provide relief from uncertainty and stress, while also offering opportunities to build new bonds and stave off loneliness (which is a challenge many newcomers experience).

Engaging in regular physical activity, such as joining local sports groups, yoga classes, or taking walks in Canada’s beautiful parks, can create social opportunities and reduce feelings of isolation. Additionally, exercising boosts mental health by releasing endorphins, which help combat stress and improve mood.

Plus, if you regularly engage in exercise and fuel your body well, you’ll be well placed to make the most of any trips to Canada’s iconic locations — picture hiking in Banff, walking Montreal’s endless city streets, skiing at Whistler, or swimming in one of Canada’s beautiful lakes.

Leading a healthy lifestyle in Canada

Canadians have a knack for blending fun with fitness, thanks to the country’s diverse landscapes and seasonal variety. There’s no shortage of uniquely Canadian activities to maintain a healthy lifestyle year-round, so you can stay active while fully embracing the outdoors and local culture.

Here are some of our favorite things to do each season in Canada:

Getting outdoors in Canadian winter

Those living in Canada tend to make the most of the cold weather in winter with activities like ice skating on frozen lakes and outdoor rinks, a beloved tradition from coast to coast. The Rideau Canal in Ottawa transforms into the world’s largest skating rink in winter, while frozen lakes across the country become hotspots for hockey players, figure skaters, and families looking to spend some quality time gliding across the ice. Snowshoeing and cross-country skiing are also extremely popular.

For those who prefer the thrill of moving a little faster, skiing and snowboarding are popular options, particularly among those living closer to the Rockies, the Coast Mountains, or the Laurentians. Even fat biking (riding bikes with very fat tires designed to function in the snow) is gaining in popularity across the country.

Staying active in shoulder seasons and summer in Canada

Again, the outdoors offer endless opportunities for fun and play. Hiking in national parks, like Banff or Fundy, offers breathtaking views while engaging in low-impact exercise. Cycling along Canada’s many scenic trails, like the Confederation Trail in PEI, is another way to stay fit while enjoying the great outdoors. Kayaking or canoeing in one of Canada’s thousands of lakes is a relaxing yet effective way to tone muscles and stay active. In urban areas, you can enjoy outdoor yoga or dance classes, often held in public parks, where residents can combine mindfulness with physical activity while soaking up the sun.

Tips to develop a healthy lifestyle in Canada

You know there are endless opportunities to enjoy Canada’s scenic landscapes and urban centers, but developing those healthy habits can be a sticking point. We have three tips that can help you build better habits – and stick to them over time:

Set SMART Goals

SMART goals can help you build and sustain a healthy lifestyle in Canada, providing structure and motivation as you work towards wellness.

SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound, and these criteria can help anyone, especially newcomers, make lasting improvements to their health.

1. Specific: Clearly define what you want to achieve. For example, instead of saying “I want to be more active,” a more specific goal would be “I want to start jogging three times a week at my local park.”
2. Measurable: Make your goals measurable to track your progress. For instance, instead of aiming to “eat healthier,” you might decide to “eat five servings of vegetables each day”.
3. Achievable: Ensure your goals are realistic given your lifestyle and environment. If you’re new to Canada and adjusting to the cold weather, start with activities you can manage indoors, like joining a gym or using an online fitness program.
4. Relevant: Align your goals with your personal values and needs. As a newcomer, this might involve using fitness to reduce stress or meet new people. A relevant goal to stay active and build a social network in your new community could be to join a local recreational hockey league or attend a fitness class 2x weekly.
5. Time-bound: Set a deadline to give yourself a sense of urgency. For example, “By the end of the next three months, I want to run 5 kilometers without stopping” or “I want to complete my first cross-country ski outing by January.”

By setting SMART goals, you can make steady progress toward a healthier lifestyle in Canada, while also integrating into your new environment and building routines that fit your unique circumstances.

Develop healthy routines

Adjusting to a new country comes with many challenges, such as adapting to a different culture, climate, and lifestyle, all of which can be overwhelming. Establishing a routine can help you improve wellness while also creating a sense of normalcy and predictability in an otherwise unfamiliar environment.

Here are some tips to develop a healthy routine:

1. Leverage Canada’s natural environment: Take advantage of local parks, hiking trails, and outdoor activities that change with the seasons. This keeps your routine fresh and engages you with your surroundings.
2. Find a support network: Join a fitness class, walking group, or community event. These social activities can provide accountability and motivation, while also helping you meet new people.
3. Track progress: Keep a journal or use an app to monitor your health habits, whether it’s steps taken, workouts completed, or meals planned. Seeing your progress keeps you motivated.
4. Make it enjoyable: Choose activities you enjoy — whether it’s yoga, swimming, or cycling — so that your routine feels less like a chore and more like something you look forward to. Doing something you truly love makes long-term lifestyle changes much easier to stick to.

Plan for challenges: Recognize potential setbacks (e.g., harsh weather, busy schedules) and have alternatives ready, such as indoor workout plans or quick meal options. Cigna Global Health Options can also help if you face any physical challenges as a result of any lifestyle changes, as physiotherapy is covered by their Silver, Gold and Platinum plans.

Find an accountability partner

Having someone to regularly check in with, whether it’s for exercise goals, meal planning, or even mental health check-ins, is a gamechanger for anyone looking to build a healthier lifestyle. But for newcomers, an accountability partner can also mean deeper social connection and increased opportunities for building social ties in your new community.

So, how do you find such a partner? Here are some tried and tested methods: 

• Hire a coach. By adding the Wellness companion benefit to your policy with Cigna Global, you can even speak to a personal wellness coach to help you make lasting lifestyle changes, or get 24/7 access to counsellors for mental and behavioral health support.
• Find an online group for newcomers and ask if anyone is interested
• Find clubs or organizations for your sport/activity
• Ask co-workers 
• Put up a sign in your condo or complex 
• Register for classes and speak to people while you’re there. 

Health and wellness with Cigna Global

Cigna‘s health insurance policies are flexible to suit your needs and budget: you can choose from a range of cover levels and enhance your protection with extra add-on options to find the right plan for you. The plans cover treatment for both emergency and routine healthcare and provide you with flexibility in terms of choice of doctor and treatment facility.

Cigna’s coverage extends to more than 200 markets and territories around the world, with 1.5 million health professionals and 24/7 customer service centers offering more than 50 different languages.