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Events, initiatives and training

Healthy us. Healthy campus. Rise and thrive at Ontario Tech.

Your Human Resources health and wellness supports and services, including the Healthy Workplace Committee are committed to providing the university community with opportunities to engage in activities that promote employee optimal health and well-being. Check out this web page often for updates on offerings that support a holistic approach to building a healthier workplace. 

Do you have an idea for an event, speaker or initiative? The Healthy Workplace Committee welcomes your input, email wellnessatwork@ontariotechu.ca.

Winter 2025

  • Active Living Challenge: Starting January 6

    The Active Living Challenge (ALC), presented by the FLEX Fitness Centre, is a campus-wide recreation, fitness and wellness event aimed at promoting health and wellness into the new year. Participants can track their workouts, participation in recreational sports, and activities that demonstrate overall physical activity to complete their activity card for a chance to win weekly prizes, including the Challenge grand prize. The ALC is open to all students, staff and faculty members. Stay connected through Campus Recreation Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for updates in December-February each year.

    Registration

    To participate in the Active Living Challenge, visit the Flex Fitness Centre at the Campus Recreation & Wellness Centre (CRWC).  Activity cards are now digital and will be accessible through the ALC web page and linked to the DC-OT Campus Recreation social media accounts starting January 6, 2025.

    Please note there will be a new link weekly, with the link remaining active from Monday to Sunday. If you require accommodations for the Challenge, please contact Brianna Christopher, Fitness Coordinator. Activity can be tracked daily and weekly throughout the duration of the Challenge.

    Week 1 Update

    The Active Living Challenge (ALC) is well underway! If you haven’t participated yet, here’s how to get started…

    Complete 30-minutes of physical activity.

      • Visit the Flex Fitness Centre.
      • Visit the Whitby campus fitness centre.
      • Visit the Oshawa YMCA – OT specific.
      • Hit a local trail and go for a walk.
      • Join a free group fitness class.
      • Participate in a free training workshop or nutrition seminar.
      • Use the walking track at the CRWC.
      • Play drop-in sports at the CRWC, CFH, and CIC.
      • Attend a free skate at the CIC.
      • Anything active, track it! If you have questions, please contact fitnessservices@dc-ot.ca.

    Once complete, don’t forget to track your activity through our online ballot system.

     ALC prizes are awarded weekly.

    • Week 1 Winners….
    • DC FLEX Starter Pack: Christina Burgess
    • OT FLEX Starter Pack: Jack Roughley

     The more ballots, the better! All ballots submitted over the 6-weeks of the ALC will be put towards our grand prizes.

     We also encourage you to participate in our free ALC workshops and seminars.

    • ALC training workshops – hands on interactive workshops to help you stay committed to your 2025 goals.
      • Wednesday’s from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
    • ALC nutrition seminars – informative sessions with free samples to help you broaden your approach to nutrition in 2025.
      • Friday’s from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

    For more information, please visit our website: https://goridgebacks.com/sports/2023/8/17/active-living-challenge.aspx

  • Let's Talk Day Booths: Wednesday, January 22

    On Wednesday, January 22, we will join millions across the country in Let's Talk Day as we engage the university community and take action to create positive change in mental health.

    Visit our Let's Talk Day Booths to visit with pets from Therapeutic Paws of Canada, receive mental health resources and giveaways such as Calm Strips, Stress Paws, and swag from Bell Canada's Let's Talk program including blue and white headbands and sports rally towels (while supplies last).  

    Date: Wednesday, January 22, 2025
    Time: 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
    Target Audience: All faculty and staff
    Locations:

    • Charles Hall Lobby Atrium
    • Shawenjigewining Atrium
  • Learning to Recharge: Thursday, January 23

    Let's continue the conversation, related to January 22's Let's Talk Day, focusing on supporting your mental health by finding time to recharge.  It may seem like a good work strategy to just do one more thing or push through. But, in fact, our focus and productivity go down when our energy is depleted. This means that we have to work harder and longer to get the same results that we would have had if we took the time to recharge. Attend this session to explore techniques to energize, calm your mind or relax your body and discover what you most need to recharge.

    Give-away and Draw: Participants will receive a Break Kit to support recharging after this workshop (while quantities last) and everyone will be entered into a random draw to receive a 1-year subscription to Calm.

    Date: Thursday, January 23, 2025
    Time: Noon - 12:45pm
    Location: In-person, SHA-018
    Target Audience: All faculty and staff

    REGISTER BY TUES., JAN. 21 (4 P.M.)

  • Crucial Conversations: Manager Cohort: January 27-31

    When it comes to the health of relationships, teams, and organizations, one thing affects everything: communication. Backed by 30 years of social science, Crucial Conversation skills represent the standard in effective communication. Improve your skills and get better outcomes by attending a training course.

    The communication skills taught in this training focus on a specific kind of interaction: those when stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong. This is not a course on winning friends or winning people to your way of thinking; it’s about strengthening relationships and securing results in the moments that matter most.

    This course teaches nine powerful skills for working through disagreement to achieve better resources: Get unstuck, Master my stories, Start with heart, State my path, Make it safe, Learn to look, Seek mutual purpose, Explore others’ paths, and Move to action.

    • Date: Monday, January 27 to Friday, January 31, 2025 (2.5 hours x 5 days)
    • Time: 9:30 a.m. to noon
    • Location: Virtual
    • Target Audience: Managers
      Note: Participants must attend all dates to receive their certificate.

    REGISTER for January 27-31, 2025 Manager Session.

  • Mental Health First Aid: Tuesday, February 4

    Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is the help provided to a person developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis. Just as physical first aid is administered to an injured person before medical treatment can be obtained, MHFA is given until appropriate treatment is found or until the crisis is resolved.

    The MHFA Canada program aims to improve mental health literacy, and provide the skills and knowledge to help people better manage potential or developing mental health problems in themselves, a family member, a friend or a colleague.

    Training is delivered by Dr. Jennifer Laffier.  Dr. Laffier is an Assistant Professor, and a Licensed Psychotherapist and Creative Arts Therapist with over 25 years of experience in the fields of developmental psychology, mental health and education. She conducts research in the area of human development and well-being in the digital age and is currently the Director of the Mental Health in the Digital Age Lab.

    Date: Tuesday, February 4, 2025
    Time: 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
    Location: Virtual via Zoom
    Target Audience: All faculty and staff

    Note: Participants are required to complete a ~2-Hour online self-directed learning module prior to attending this virtual training day. 

    REGISTER

  • Let’s get at the Heart of the Matter - Heart Health Workshop: Monday, February 10

    Let’s get at the Heart of the matter . . . heart disease is the number 1 cause of death worldwide with 1 in 4 people likely to experience heart issues in their lifetime. With this in mind, let’s take action and work towards changing the statistic! With the exception of very rare congenital defects, the majority of heart issues stem from our environment and lifestyle choices. However, there is good news - we can take control over some of the risk factors!

    In this workshop, Dr. Sylvie Bardin, will define heart disease and the different types of heart issues that fall under this term. The main factors that are associated with an increased risk of heart disease will also be covered as well as guidelines on how to take care of your heart through nutrition and lifestyle.

    Prevention is key! If you are experiencing heart issues or want to learn how to mitigate the risks, you will find this workshop to helpful in building a path forward to a healthier heart.

    Date: Monday, February 10, 2025
    Time: 1 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.
    Location: Virtual
    Target Audience: All faculty and Staff

    REGISTER

  • safeTALK: Tuesday, February 11

    safeTALK is training that equips people to be more alert to someone thinking of suicide and better able to connect them with further help. Using a simple yet effective model, safeTALK empowers everyone to make a difference. With over 120,000 people attending each year, it’s the world’s fastest-growing suicide prevention skills training course.

    Date: Tuesday, February 11, 2025
    Time: 9 a.m. - Noon (12 p.m.)
    Location: In-person, SHA-018
    Target Audience: All Faculty and Staff

    REGISTER

  • Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) – Feb 20 & 21, 2025

    ASIST is a two-day* in-person workshop featuring powerful audio-visuals, discussions, and simulations. You'll learn how to recognize when someone might be thinking about suicide, and how to provide a skilled intervention and develop a safety plan with the person to connect them to further support. This workshop will increase your willingness, confidence, and capacity to provide suicide first aid. Training is facilitated by the Canadian Mental Health Association.

    Dates: Thursday, February 20 and Friday, February 21, 2025*
    Time: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
    Location: In-person, SHA-018
    Audience: All faculty and staff
    * Please note: Participants must attend both days to be certified.

    REGISTER
  • Crucial Conversations: Front-line Contributor Cohort: March 17-21

    When it comes to the health of relationships, teams, and organizations, one thing affects everything: communication. Backed by 30 years of social science, Crucial Conversation skills represent the standard in effective communication. Improve your skills and get better outcomes by attending a training course.

    The communication skills taught in this training focus on a specific kind of interaction: those when stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong. This is not a course on winning friends or winning people to your way of thinking; it’s about strengthening relationships and securing results in the moments that matter most.

    This course teaches nine powerful skills for working through disagreement to achieve better resources: Get unstuck, Master my stories, Start with heart, State my path, Make it safe, Learn to look, Seek mutual purpose, Explore others’ paths, and Move to action.

    • Date: Monday, March 17 to Friday, March 21, 2025 (2.5 hours x 5 days)
    • Time: 9:30 a.m. to noon
    • Location: Virtual
    • Target Audience: Front line contributors
      Note: Participants must attend all dates to receive their certificate.

    REGISTER FOR MARCH 17-21, 2025 FRONT-LINE CONTRIBTORS SESSION.

Reoccurring

Learning and Development

Please contact Julie Day, Health and Disability Management Specialist, with questions or if you should require an accommodation in order to participate in any of the events.