Students will acquire knowledge and have opportunities to apply what they learn to interventions in physical activity, education and coaching that enrich people’s lives. They will gain theoretical and practical training in why and how to encourage people to become more active and how to better people’s experiences in various contexts of physical activity, education and coaching. Students will critically examine how various intervening roles, especially in teaching and coaching, lead to improved health, well-being, development, learning, and performance in individuals and society, and will learn to develop, implement and evaluate programs. Students will receive training informed by social sciences (e.g., psychology, sociocultural, pedagogy, leisure studies). They will have opportunities to acquire motivational and consulting skills to work with individuals in different contexts. For example, they can learn behavioural change techniques to promote physical activity, or how to work with athletes to prepare them for competition.
Students will have opportunities to gain competencies in leading group interventions in sport coaching, recreation programming, and teaching physical activity. This option offers an opportunity to improve knowledge and skills in critical analysis of sport, physical activity and leisure. Students can gain training that will allow them to contribute to the strategic promotion of healthy physical activity in communities, that can be applied to interventions and programming across the lifespan (from young children to older adults), in established and under-represented populations (e.g., persons with disabilities, at-risk youth). Students will have opportunities to gain skills in critical inquiry they will use to question whether interventions or social policies address individual, social and environmental considerations, and to facilitate change in current approaches.
Studies in this area of interest enable our graduates to pursue various career-paths in education, coaching and roles in promotion and programming of physical activity, sport and leisure. The emphasis of our program on both foundational knowledge and also how knowledge translates into action enables our graduates to pursue different occupational roles. For example, our graduates can become leaders in the development of recreation services and fitness programs in the community (e.g., community clubs, campus recreation departments, employee wellness programs), sport coaches, teachers of physical and health education in schools, mental performance consultants in high-performance sport (e.g., sport academies), and exercise consultants and health promoters working in community health centres. Our graduates can find roles in developing persuasive messages for ‘Active Living’ or ‘Get Fit’ media communications, and they can become advocates promoting the health benefits of physical activity, sport and leisure to policymakers in the public, private and non-profit sectors. Our graduates can also pursue research based or professional based graduate degrees relating to interventions in physical activity, sport and leisure.
The Option in Studies of Social Issues in Sport, Physical Activity and Leisure offers an opportunity to improve your knowledge and skills in critical analysis of sport, physical activity and leisure to help you become an actor of social change in, and through, sport, physical activity and leisure. You will learn about the effect of social issues on sporting, physical and leisure practices as well as the impact of these practices on social change. In the process, you better understand how power relations are enacted in the context of sport, physical activity and leisure as well as understand how these practices become tools of social change.
This program is offered in English and in French.
The French immersion stream is available with this program.
Requirements for this program have been modified. Please consult the 2024-2025 calendars for the previous requirements.
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Basic skills | ||
| ENG 1100 | Workshop in Essay Writing | 3 Units |
| 3 course units from: | 3 Units | |
| Technical Report Writing | ||
| Selected Topics in Literature and Composition | ||
| Compulsory Courses at the 1000 level | ||
| APA 1122 | Physical Activity in a Global Health Perspective | 3 Units |
| APA 1302 | Sociology of Sport and Physical Activity in Canada | 3 Units |
| APA 1313 | Musculoskeletal Anatomy | 3 Units |
| LSR 1100 | Introduction to Leisure Studies | 3 Units |
| LSR 1105 | Leisure in Canadian Society | 3 Units |
| Compulsory Courses at the 2000 level | ||
| APA 2111 | Intervention Theories | 3 Units |
| APA 2116 | Principles of Coaching | 3 Units |
| APA 2140 | Introduction to Sport and Exercise Psychology | 3 Units |
| APA 2180 | Research Methods in Human Kinetics | 3 Units |
| APA 2302 | History of Sport and Physical Activity in Canada | 3 Units |
| LSR 2118 | Recreation Program Development and Evaluation | 3 Units |
| Compulsory Courses at the 3000 level | ||
| APA 3111 | Physical Education Methods: Intervention, Observation and Experimentation | 3 Units |
| APA 3118 | Recreation, Sport and Community Development | 3 Units |
| APA 3119 | Coaching Training Methods | 3 Units |
| APA 3301 | Ethics in Sport, Physical Activity and Health in Canada | 3 Units |
| APA 3325 | Fitness Training Principles | 3 Units |
| APA 3381 | Measurement and Data Analysis in Human Kinetics | 3 Units |
| Compulsory Course at the 4000 level | ||
| APA 4123 | Physical Activity Counselling | 3 Units |
| APA 4320 | Advanced Coaching: Global Preparation in a Sport | 3 Units |
| Optional Courses | ||
| 3 course units from: | 3 Units | |
| Introduction to Psychology: Foundations | ||
| Introduction to Psychology: Applications | ||
| 3 course units from: | 3 Units | |
| Principles of Sociology | ||
| Exploring Diversity in Canada | ||
| 3 course units from: | 3 Units | |
| Reasoning and Critical Thinking | ||
| Philosophical Issues in Health Care | ||
| Introduction to Psychology: Foundations | ||
| Introduction to Psychology: Applications | ||
| Principles of Sociology | ||
| Exploring Diversity in Canada | ||
| 6 course units from: | 6 Units | |
| Motor Control and Learning | ||
| Physiology of Physical Activity | ||
| Introduction to Applied Biomechanics | ||
| 6 course units from Studies of Social Issues in Sport, Physical Activity and Leisure: | 6 Units | |
| Hockey and Canadian Culture | ||
| Sociology of Health and Physical Activity in Canada | ||
| Anthropology of Sport and Leisure | ||
| Political Economy of Sport and Physical Activity | ||
| Sport and Identities | ||
| Sport and Physical Activity in Aging Populations | ||
| Parks and Protected Areas | ||
| Leisure Education/Counselling | ||
| 6 cours units from: | 6 Units | |
| Research Project | ||
| Internship/Clinical Experience | ||
| Elective Courses | ||
| 30 elective course units | 30 Units | |
or a minor | ||
| Total: | 120 Units | |