The Okanagan Charter resulted from the 2015 International Conference on Health Promoting Universities and Colleges in Kelowna, British Columbia. The charter was crafted by representatives from education and health institutions from 45 countries, and the World Health Organization.

The purpose of that meeting was to create a plan for how to improve global health and well-being. This led to the understanding that in order to improve the world, we should start with postsecondary intuitions. This led to the creation of the Okanagan Charter and its calls to action.

The Okanagan Charter calls to action are:

• Embed health into all aspects of campus culture, across the administration, operations, and academic mandates.
  • 1 Embed health in all campus policies.
  • 2 Create supportive campus environments.
  • 3 Generate thriving communities and a culture of well-being.
  • 4 Support personal development.
  • 5 Create or re-orient campus services.
• Lead health promotion action and collaboration locally and globally.
  • 1 Integrate health, well-being and sustainability in multiple disciplines to develop change agents.
  • 2 Advance research, teaching and training for health promotion knowledge and action.
  • 3 Lead and partner towards local and global action for health

In 2017, McMaster University signed the Okanagan Charter. The university has developed the McMaster Okanagan Committee, which is a group of individuals from across campus dedicated to enhance health and well-being at McMaster University.

If you would like to read the full charter, click here.

In recognition to the importance of health and well-being in higher education, the McMaster Okanagan Committee has developed the McMaster Okanagan Special Project Funding. The purpose of this fund is to encourage creative and impactful projects focused on health and well-being to benefit McMaster students, staff and/or faculty.

Please ensure that your project proposal adheres to current health and safety protocols put in place by the government. We currently recommend that all 2021 applications are virtual.

The McMaster Okanagan Committee encourage creative and out-of-the box thinking when it comes to new health and well-being initiatives. We do not want to limit any ideas.

All projects must be:

• Intended for members of the McMaster Community as the target audience (can also benefit others but the McMaster community has to benefit)
• Virtual / socially distanced (2021)
• From a current McMaster student, staff or faculty member

Projects cannot be:

• Part of a research study

If you are concerned if your idea might not fit, feel free to contact us at okanagan@mcmaster.ca to discuss your idea.

Applicants are responsible for all areas of development and operation of the project. McMaster Okanagan will provide guidance when required but ultimately the day-to-day function of the project will lie with the applicant(s). Each project must have at least one active student, staff or faculty member to act as the contact person throughout the life of the project. Graduating students may be part of the application process but the contact person must be a currently enrolled student (full or part-time).

We encourage creative and impactful ideas. Below are some examples of projects that you may be thinking of:

• More benches / picnic tables
• Yellow benches
• Meditation rooms on campus
• Yoga class in downtown Hamilton
• Hire a student to help develop a new well-being program.

If you are looking at a hosting a conference / talk we encourage you to look at utilizing on of the many McMaster experts available before bringing in a speaker outside of McMaster.

Check out our listing of the 2020 selected projects here.

McMaster Okanagan believes that all areas of our daily lives influence our health and well-being.  People often think of well-being as simply physical or mental health but there is much more to sustaining ones well-being.  Well-being is a holistic integration of physical, mental, social, and environmental health.

For that reason, the McMaster Okanagan Committee has adopted the use of The Eight Dimensions of Well-being for the classification of our health and well-being programs, services, and educational opportunities.

The eight dimensions include physical, emotional, spiritual, social, intellectual, financial, environmental and occupational.

In your application you will be required to choose the dimensions that you would like your project reviewed under.

We want to ensure that the selected projects are representative of the vast array of well-being. Therefore, applications must indicate what dimensions it would like to be assessed under. Each project can choose up to 3 dimensions.

All current McMaster students, staff and faculty members are eligible to apply. Applications can be submitted by groups or individuals.

NOTE: If you are a student graduating or an employee leaving the year of your project application, you must have a plan for who will take over the project in your absence. Let us know in your application.

The application form can be found here (link to come). Applications will only be accepted online through this website.

Applications must be completed on-line and will only be accepted through our website.

Funding is available up to $5,000 per project. Projects must submit a detailed budget request along with the application outlining how the funds will be used.  

Expenses that will not be approved for McMaster Okanagan Special Project Funding include and are not limited to:

• Staff or faculty salaries
• Primary research costs
• Small equipment purchases that are not ergonomically safe or effective
• Office renovations, office furniture, artwork
• The purchase of stereo or electronic equipment for entertainment purposes
• Individual monetary reimbursements for gym memberships/ fitness classes/ assessments
• Charitable donations
• Alcohol or illicit substances

There is no limit to the number of applications an individual or group is allowed to submit. However, each project must have its own application.

Yes, every applicant can re-apply the following year when the application re-opens. Applicants can re-apply with the same project but the McMaster Okanagan Committee recommends applying with a new project.

Funds will be transferred to a project-specific account via Mosaic.

All projects will be required to submit an end-of-project report. Applicants will be given a three-month time period to submit their final project report after their project ends.

• Application open date: January 1, 2021
• Application deadline: February 28, 2021
• Results of Committee’s decision: March 2021 (exact date TBD)
• Fund distribution: March 2021

Any questions regarding the McMaster Okanagan Special Project Funding can be addressed to okanagan@mcmaster.ca.