At the Active Living Alliance for Canadians with a Disability, we strive to collaborate with partners, affiliates, members, supporters and stakeholders. We operate through consensus and consultation to achieve our common goal of creating a society where all Canadians lead active and healthy lives.
Our objective is to build a strong national network of member organizations in various sectors (health, sport, recreation, rehabilitation, education, disability and consumer groups) to make each Canadian community inclusive of people with disabilities and help build better programs, campaigns and policies.
What makes us unique?
The Active Living Alliance is the only Canadian organization dedicated to wellness of all citizens with a disability through active living, sport and recreation. We are committed to persons with a disability of all ages and all abilities, be it mobility, sensory, intellectual/cognitive, mental health or chronic disease.
The Active Living Alliance is a trusted source for powering the movement to get Canadians with a disability moving - a ‘go to’ source for knowledge, insight and understanding. We believe that physical activity, sport and recreation:
- Changes community attitudes about disability by placing the emphasis on ability rather than disability;
- Encourages those with a disability to see themselves in a positive way and be active members of society;
- Promotes outstanding physical health, mental wellness and social participation benefits for those with a disability.
In our commitment to build capacity, strengthen new and existing collaborations, and facilitate communications amongst members and across multiple sectors, the Active Living Alliance is implementing a Contributory Membership model.
In essence, we are inviting organizations to join the Active Living Alliance for an annual fee that is affordable for their organization. In doing so, the member is contributing to the collective good, allowing the Active Living Alliance to support decision makers and program administrators in making recreation, sport and physical activities more inclusive for people with a disability.
The minimum membership fee is set at $50 per year. Organizations are invited to contribute as much as they can, based on various criteria such as the intended use of the programs and training resources exclusive to members, the size of their organization or the population it serves.
In return, the Active Living Alliance offers the following exclusive benefits:
- Access to our most popular resources, programs and training materials: 2-hour online version of Moving to Inclusion, All Abilities Welcome, Youth Ambassadors Across Canada and Adapted Equipment Ideas.
- Free referral services to an individual expert, organization or resource, including research, to support the immediate needs of the member organization;
- Networking opportunities with the Active Living Alliance partners, affiliates and other members;
- Voting privilege at the Annual General Meeting;
- Free use and recognition of a branding “trust mark”.
Members are organizations (national, provincial, territorial and community organizations, agencies and municipalities) who, as part of their mandate, are dedicated to the wellness of people with a disability through active living, sport and recreation.
Upon receipt of the Application Form, the Active Living Alliance will review the information and will contact the individual who submitted the form on behalf of the organization to:
- Discuss how both organizations can best collaborate and help advance the mission of providing an inclusive environment for people with a disability;
- Decide on the number of individuals from the member organization who will need to have access to the Resources exclusive to Members;
- Determine the amount of the contributory annual membership fee that the organization can afford.
Once both parties agree on the above, the Active Living Alliance will send an invoice by email to the organization. Acceptable payment methods are by cheque or PayPal (link will be provided on the invoice).
Once payment is received, the Active Living Alliance will send instructions to the organization on how individuals can create an account on the Active Living Alliance website to access Resources for Members and where to download the Member Trust Mark to be used on their own website, social media channels and letterhead.
When applying on behalf of the organization, the individual will need to confirm that he/she is authorized to apply for membership. The organization will also be asked to confirm if they agree to have their name listed as a member of the Active Living Alliance on its website. If yes, the organization will be invited to provide a website address that will be linked to their name. Members will be listed alphabetically on the Active Living Alliance website.