The History of Kinesiology in Canada

This article is a summary of the work done by Digby Elliot at McMaster University from his journal entry, Forty Years of Kinesiology: A Canadian Perspective.

Kinesiology began as an academic program in Ontario and British Columbia in the mid to late 1960’s. The University of Waterloo and Simon Fraser University were the first to adopt the study of Kinesiology. For context, in the 1960’s the baby boomers were reaching adulthood and for the first time post-secondary education was becoming a viable option for many young adults. Governments were spending tax dollars on infrastructure for these continuing education centres. At this time the University of Waterloo and Simon Fraser University were starting to expand to compete with the older established universities and wanted to offer new, non-traditional programs.

In the University of Waterloo, Professor Norm Ashton noticed gaps in scientific knowledge with physical education literature. From this he developed a program that was set with the basic biological and social sciences associated with human movement, along with practical experiences associated with cooperative education. Termed Kinesiology, it was presented at a meeting of Ontario university Physical Education faculty members in 1966. A year later the first department of Kinesiology was established. Throughout the next few years as it was being developed, Ashton a professor of exercise physiology, recruited some young scientists that shared this vision. These scientists studied biochemistry, biomechanics, motor learning, sport psychology, and anatomy. These subjects have now become the fundamental basis of a traditional Kinesiology program.

Around the same time another professor of exercise physiology named Eric Banister was involved in a similar process. At Simon Fraser University, the Physical Development Centre in the Faculty of Education offered a program called Physical Development Studies. This department offered a Bachelor of Science (Kinesiology) lead by Dr. Eric Banister. Like the program at Waterloo it was a multidisciplinary program with more focus on biosciences rather than social sciences. A few years later in 1972, Dr. Banister expanded the program to become a full department in the Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies. Course offerings in biomechanics, biochemistry, anthropometry, cell physiology/chemistry, exercise physiology, and system analysis emerged.

For the next 20 years several Kinesiology programs were created and slowly it began to overtake Physical Education programs. Throughout the development of a Kinesiology program at each Ontario university, its faculty and department varied. For some universities the Kinesiology program was under the Faculty of Health Sciences, while others were under Physical Education. Because of all the diverse departments and facilities for Kinesiology a council was created to decide what constituted a Kinesiology program. The Canadian Council of University Physical Education and Kinesiology Administrators (CCUPEKA) was created and held its first meeting in 1971. CCUPEKA identified human anatomy, human physiology, exercise physiology, biomechanics, motor learning/control, and psychology of physical activity as the core courses. In addition, it must include two courses in social sciences and/or humanities, two courses in research methods and/or statistics, and at least four core courses must include an associated laboratory experience. Upper level course offerings, areas of specialization, and graduate programs vary depending on the location of the university to fit its specific regional interests.

As Kinesiology continued to grow, movement scientists lobbied for the establishment of a professional certification process for Kinesiology. The Canadian Kinesiology Alliance (CKA) began and functioned to promote Kinesiology as a profession. More recently in Ontario, the Health Professions Regulatory Advisory Council recommended to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care that Kinesiology become a provincially regulated health profession. In 2007, the Kinesiology Act was created to identify Kinesiology’s scope of practice. In the spring of 2013, under the Regulated Health Professions Act (1991), Kinesiology became a regulated health profession and the College of Kinesiologists of Ontario (COKO) was born. With this the title “Kinesiologist” is now protected in Ontario. This means members of the college must use the titles “Registered Kinesiologist”, “Kinesiologist”, or the designation “R.Kin” when providing services.

Today, Kinesiology as a regulated health profession is only a few years old but is continually being changed and adapted. This leaves so much room for interpretation and exploration. Within the next couple years as Kinesiology continues to grow, I am curious to see how the role of Kinesiologists changes. To learn about what Kinesiologists do come back tomorrow to find out!

Hopefully this helps,