Physical Activity, Screen Time, and Sleep Data

Youth

Youth, Usual mode of transportation to school

• Among Ottawa students in Grades 7 to 12, one in five (18%) usually used active transportation (i.e. walked or biked) to get to school in 2017. This proportion is comparable to the Ontario-less-Ottawa average of 19% (Table 1). [4]

Table 1. Percent of Ottawa students (Grades 7 to 12) reporting their usual mode of transportation to school, 2011 to 2017

Data Source and Notes for Table 1

 Youth, Past week active transportation to school, work or other places

• 84% of Ottawa youth, aged 12 to 17, reported being active to get to school, work or other places at least once in the past week in 2017, similar to Ontario-less-Ottawa (79%) (Table 2a and Figure 1). [5]

• Of those Ottawa youth who report active transportation, 90% report that they spent at least 45 minutes per week in active transportation and half reported at least 240 minutes (4 hours) per week of active transportation (Table 2b). 

Table 2a. Percent of youth (12 to 17 years) reporting active transportation in the past week in Ottawa and Ontario-less-Ottawa in 2015/16 and 2017

Table 2b. Amount of time (minutes) per week that youth (12 to 17 years) report active transportation in Ottawa in 2015/16 and 2017, by percentiles

Data Source and Notes for Table 2a – b

Ottawa Public Health. Canadian Community Health Survey 2017. Ontario Share File. Statistics Canada

Ottawa Public Health. Canadian Community Health Survey 2015/16. Ontario Share File. Statistics Canada

• The Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) is an annual national population health survey conducted by Statistics Canada.
• Youth respondents (12-17 years) were asked if in the last 7 days, did they use active ways like walking or cycling to get to places such as school, day camps, work, or to visit friends. Respondents were instructed not to include activity done for leisure.
• Youth respondents were asked to report the total amount of time in active transportation in minutes overall for the last week.

*Interpret with caution – high sampling variability.

Adults

Adults, Past week active transportation to work, school or other places

• 57% of Ottawa adults (aged 18+ years) report active transportation in the past week in 2017, which is higher than in Ontario-less-Ottawa (48%) (Figure 1). [5]
  • Adults aged 18 to 44 years were more likely (70%) to report active transportation in the past week, compared to those aged 45 to 64 years (55%) and 65+ years (54%) (Figure 1).
• Three in ten (31%) of Ottawa adults (aged 18+ years) reported active transportation on five or more days in the past week (Figure 1). Compared to Ontario-less-Ottawa, more Ottawa residents used active transportation for 3 to 4 and 5 or more days (Table 3b).
• Among adults who reported active transportation in 2017, 90% spent at least 15 minutes per day in active transportation and half spent at least 40 minutes per day (Table 3c).

Figure 1. Percentage reporting active transportation by age and number of days in
the past week, Ottawa and Ontario-less-Ottawa, 2017

Table 3a. Percent of adults (18+ years) reporting active transportation in the past week in Ottawa and Ontario-less-Ottawa in 2015/16 and 2017

Table 3b. Number of times in past week that adults (18+ years) report active transportation in Ottawa and Ontario-less-Ottawa in 2015/16 and 2017

Table 3c. Amount of time (minutes) per day that adults (18+ years) report active transportation in Ottawa in 2015-16 and 2017, by percentiles

Data Source and Notes for Figure 1, Table 3a – c

Ottawa Public Health. Canadian Community Health Survey 2017. Ontario Share File. Statistics Canada

Ottawa Public Health. Canadian Community Health Survey 2015/16. Ontario Share File. Statistics Canada

• The Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) is an annual national population health survey conducted by Statistics Canada.
• Adult respondents were asked if in the last 7 days, did they 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. Respondents were instructed not to include activity done for leisure.
• Adult respondents were asked to report the total amount of time in active transportation in minutes each day in the last week.
• Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.
• *Interpret with caution – high sampling variability.

Data Table for Figure 1

Data presented in Figure 1 are found in Table 2a, Table 3a and Table 3b.

Adults, Primary mode of transportation to work

• 10% of employed Ottawa residents aged 15 years and older reported that their primary mode of transportation to work was walking or cycling in 2016. This proportion has remained steady over the past 15 years (Table 4).

Table 4. Primary mode of transportation to work, Ottawa adults aged 15+ years, 1996 to 2016

Data Source and Notes for Table 4

Statistics Canada. Canadian Census of Population, 1996, 2001, 2006, 2016.

Statistics Canada. National Household Survey, 2011. 

Youth

The Canadian 24–Hour Movement Guidelines recommend children and youth accumulate 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity every day. [6]

In Ottawa:

• In 2017, 22% of Grade 7 to 12 students reported meeting the Canadian 24–Hour Movement Guidelines in the 7 days prior to the survey, which is similar to that for Ontario-less-Ottawa (23%). [4]
  • Boys (27%) were more likely than girls (16%) to meet the Guidelines. [4]
  • Students in Grades 7 to 8 (36%) were more likely to meet the Guidelines than students in Grades 9 to 10 (18%) and 11 to 12 (14%). [4]
  • Students with low self-perceived socio-economic status (SES) (14%) were less likely to meet the Guidelines than students with high self-perceived SES (25%). [4]

Adults

The Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines recommend adults aged 18 years and older accumulate at least 150 minutes of moderate-to vigorous-intensity physical activity each week. [7]

In Ottawa:

• Nearly two-thirds (63%) of residents aged 18 years and older were physically active at or above the recommended guidelines in 2017, similar to 2015-2016. [5,8]
• Adults 65 years of age and older (45%) were less likely to report meeting the physical activity guidelines than younger adults (18 to 44 years of age: 72%; 45 to 64 years of age: 61%). [5]

Figure 2. Percentage of adults (18+ years) reporting physical activity that meets the Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines, Ottawa and Ontario-less-Ottawa, 2015-16 to 2017

Data Source and Notes for Figure 2

Ottawa Public Health. Canadian Community Health Survey 2015/16. Ontario Share File. Statistics Canada

Ottawa Public Health. Canadian Community Health Survey 2017. Ontario Share File. Statistics Canada

• The Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) is an annual national population health survey conducted by Statistics Canada.
• Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.

Data Table for Figure 2

Participating in outdoor physical activity or play has a number of health benefits (e.g., self-reported mental wellbeing). [9-13] Furthermore, persons who spend more time outdoors tend to be more active and spend less time being sedentary. [14]

In Ottawa:

• In 2017, 30% of students in Grades 7 to 12 did not play actively outside on any of the five school days prior to the survey, which is higher than that for Ontario-less-Ottawa (25%). [4]

• More girls (38%) than boys (23%) did not play outside on any of the five school days prior to the survey. [4]

• Students in Grades 9 to 10 (34%) and 11 to 12 (37%) were more likely than students in Grades 7 to 8 (17%) to not play actively outside on any of the five previous school days. [4]

Students with low self-perceived socio-economic status (SES) (40%) were more likely than students with high self-perceived SES (26%) to not play actively outside in the five previous school days. [4]

Youth

The Canadian 24–Hour Movement Guidelines recommend children and youth accumulate no more than 2 hours per day of recreational screen time (e.g., playing video games, watching tv, surfing the internet). [6]

In Ottawa:

• In 2023, 13% of students (Grades 7 to 12) reported no more than 2 hours per day of recreational screen time. [15]
• In 2023, 45% of students (Grades 7 to 12) reported 5 hours or more of recreational screen time per day. [15]

Please refer to the Mental Health, Addictions and Substance Use Health in the Community Dashboard on the "Do people live with opportunity and equality?" page for up-to-date information on social media use and screen time.

Youth Sleep

Sleep is a fundamental part of healthy growth and development among children and youth. The Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines recommend that in addition to high levels of physical activity and low levels of sedentary behaviour, children and youth need sufficient sleep each day to support healthy growth and development. For children 5 to 13 years of age, 9 to 11 hours of uninterrupted sleep are recommended. For children 14 to 17 years of age, 8 to 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep are recommended. The Guidelines also recommend consistent bed and wake-up times. [6]

In Ottawa:

• Over half (56%) of youth reported that they were sleeping less than 8 hours on an average school night in 2017. Girls (62%), youth in older grades, and students from families with lower socioeconomic status (SES) were more likely to report getting less sleep on school nights (Figure 3).
• 14% of youth aged 12 to 17 years had difficulty getting to sleep most of the time or all of the time (Table 5).
• 63% of youth aged 12 to 17 years mostly or always find their sleep refreshing (Table 5).
• 67% of youth never or rarely have difficulty staying awake when they want to (Table 5).

Figure 3. Percent of students who reported sleeping less than 8 hours on an average school night by socio-demographics, Ottawa, 2017

Data Source and Notes for Figure 3

Ottawa Public Health. Public Health Monitoring of Risk Factors in Ontario – OSDUHS (2017), Centre for Addictions and Mental Health.  

• The 2017 data used in this section are from the Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey conducted by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and administered by the Institute for Social Research, York University. Its contents and interpretation are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official view of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
• The Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS) is the longest ongoing biennial school survey in Canada, and the only province-wide survey of this population. The 2017 estimates are based on a random representative sample of over 1,400 Ottawa students enrolled in any of the four publicly funded school boards in Grades 7 through 12.
• Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.
• SES=family socioeconomic status

Data Table for Figure 3

Table 5. Youth sleep indicators in Ottawa, 2015-16

Data Source and Notes for Table 5

Ottawa Public Health. Canadian Community Health Survey 2015/16. Ontario Share File. Statistics Canada

• The Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) is an annual national population health survey conducted by Statistics Canada.

Adult Sleep

Not getting enough sleep or getting poor quality sleep is associated with poor health outcomes like obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, injuries, poor mental health and poor well-being. For adults aged 18 to 64 years, 7 to 9 hours are recommended. For adults aged 65 years and older, 7 to 8 hours are recommended. [16]

• Just over half (55%) of Ottawa adults aged 18 years or older reported that they usually sleep for 7 or more hours a night in 2015 to 2016 (Table 6).
• 15% of adults aged 18 years or older had difficulty getting to sleep most of the time or all of the time (Table 6).
• 13% of adults aged 18 years or older rarely or never find their sleep refreshing (Table 6).

Table 6. Adult sleep indicators in Ottawa, 2015-16

Data Source and Notes for Table 6

Ottawa Public Health. Canadian Community Health Survey 2015/16. Ontario Share File. Statistics Canada

• The Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) is an annual national population health survey conducted by Statistics Canada.
• *Interpret with caution – high sampling variability

This report is a resource for OPH and health partners to help plan or enhance programs and services, identify strategic priorities, identify gaps, and monitor changes in the health of people living in Ottawa. This report also fulfills the requirement for public health units to assess and report on population health, as stipulated in the Ontario Public Health Standards.

State of Ottawa's Health 2023 Report (PDF) [9.5M]   

The Healthy Eating, Active Living and Healthy Weights in Ottawa, 2012 report is an epidemiological overview of three of the five major risk factors associated with chronic diseases: healthy eating; physical activity and healthy weights.

The Healthy Eating, Active Living and Healthy Weights in Ottawa [PDF 9 MB]

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8. Ottawa Public Health. Canadian Community Health Survey 2015/16. Ontario Share File. Statistics Canada.

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15. Ottawa Public Health. Public Health Monitoring of Risk Factors in Ontario – OSDUHS (2023), Centre for Addictions and Mental Health.
16. Hirshkowitz M WK, Albert SM, et al. National Sleep Foundation's updated sleep duration recommendations: Final report. Sleep Health. 2015;1:233-43.