YK Healthy Urban Policy Team

Updates from the YK Healthy Urban Policy Team

A Report Back to the Community

Helsinki Study Tour

The YK Healthy Urban Policy Team is a community-led and independent initiative. Our volunteer group shares a vision: to help shape a healthier, more inclusive Yellowknife, where public spaces support movement, safety, and belonging: in every season, for every resident.

In early 2025, our team was selected as one of four Canadian groups to receive a Planning Grant through the Healthy Cities Research Initiative (HCRI). This initiative was created by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and 8 80 Cities to support real-world projects that bring researchers and communities together to improve health, equity, and quality of life in cities. 

As part of the grant, we took part in the Healthy Urban Policy Workshop in Helsinki, Finland in May 2025, alongside three other selected Canadian teams. The five-day learning exchange, curated and led by 8 80 Cities was designed to inspire participants on best practices to create inclusive healthy cities.  It gave us the opportunity to explore how cities can promote health, equity, and active living through thoughtful urban design.

Why Helsinki? Like Yellowknife and many other Canadian cities, Helsinki has grappled with housing affordability, aging infrastructure, and car-oriented planning. But over the past two decades, it has made bold, people-first policy changes to reverse those trends.

Helsinki showed us what’s possible when a city puts people at the centre of planning. We met with local planners, architects, and civic leaders and toured neighbourhoods that had been transformed from car-dominated infrastructure into walkable, inclusive, and vibrant public spaces. We also visited libraries, streetscapes, and housing projects designed to support social connection, climate resilience, and mobility all year round.

An additional team member joined the Yellowknife group to travel north to Vaasa and Oulu — two Finnish cities recognized for their exceptional multi-modal transportation systems and innovative winter maintenance policies. These visits deepened our understanding of how northern cities can support safe, active transportation year-round through thoughtful infrastructure, prioritization, and policy alignment — lessons that resonate strongly with Yellowknife’s own climate and mobility challenges.

We came home energized and inspired, not with a blueprint to copy, but with real lessons we can apply in our own northern context. This report shares what we learned — and how this journey is already sparking new conversations and possibilities for Yellowknife.
If you'd like a copy of our Report, please reach out through our online form:

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