A big hello to everyone  from Canada!

I arrived in Canada after a 14-hour flight from Sydney to Vancouver. Canada is a large country with 11 provinces and three territories. I've chosen to visit Canada because it's the most similar to Australia in terms of its structure, its government structures, and the impact of distance on the people and the community. Canada has no national strategy for play, largely due to the fact much of the work of government is devolved to the provinces, similar to our states and territories.

Activities in the provinces are carried but overall there is a strong grass root movement for play and passionate advocacy for outdoor play in particular. With limited Government investment, Canada has seen a lot of investment in grass roots play projects via Canadian philanthropic groups. Organisations like the Lawson Foundation which invested in 2016, 2.7 million in funding for 14 outdoor play projects, followed by a further 2nd phase investment of 4.95 million in 8 demonstration projects a few years later, has really provided a driver for outdoor play initiatives and research. Outdoor Play Canada (OPC) is a network born out of one of those initiatives with a 450k investment from the foundation to galvanize the outdoor play movement in Canada. This investment is magnified with the launch this year of a new national philanthropic fund “Free to Play” seeded by a 16 million investment by Walton Trust that will connect funders locally and nationally to support community led play projects. Meeting with reps from both Lawson and Waltons I was tempted to negotiate for Australia to become Canada’s 12th province, just so we could access this amazing fund!!!  It's an exciting time for philanthropy and for play in Canada and yes, I was able to tap into some handy hints for engaging philanthropic organisations!. 

I also attended The Breath of Fresh Air summit in Ottawa. All held completely outdoors, in the rain and the sunshine it was an unusual but beautiful conference experience. It's been a late start to autumn here in Canada, so the weather has been warm and balmy, not needing any of my sweaters at this point.  At this event the launch of the global outdoor play statement happened. If you haven't already seen it. We've got the link in the newsletter, in the last E News. It so far has 500 signatories so you too can endorse!! 

Visiting the outdoor play lab in Vancouver led by Mariana Brussoni and spending time with her again at the Summit was wonderful, we also chatted about her latest book with Megan Zeni due for release in January 2026. Play Australia will be hosting a webinar with Mariana and Megan to launch the book in Aus eerly in New Year (yep, I seized the moment!!). The book has really practical content for managing risky play in schools and I simply loved the practical, balanced approach shared by Megan who works in a school. I think you will too!! 

Yours Playfully 

Robyn x

PS Great to see Mariana wearing her Play Aus cap at the Summit !!