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    * Honours Bachelor of Human Kinetics - Education and Coaching - Studies of Social Issues in Sport, Physical Activity and Leisure Option

  Honours Bachelor of Human Kinetics - Education and Coaching - Studies of Social Issues in Sport, Physical Activity and Leisure Option

      120 Units

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      Students will acquire knowledge and have opportunities to apply what they learn to interventions in physical activity, education and coaching that enrich people’s lives. They will gain theoretical and practical training in why and how to encourage people to become more active and how to better people’s experiences in various contexts of physical activity, education and coaching. Students will critically examine how various intervening roles, especially in teaching and coaching, lead to improved health, well-being, development, learning, and performance in individuals and society, and will learn to develop, implement and evaluate programs. Students will receive training informed by social sciences (e.g., psychology, sociocultural, pedagogy, leisure studies). They will have opportunities to acquire motivational and consulting skills to work with individuals in different contexts. For example, they can learn behavioural change techniques to promote physical activity, or how to work with athletes to prepare them for competition.

      Students will have opportunities to gain competencies in leading group interventions in sport coaching, recreation programming, and teaching physical activity. This option offers an opportunity to improve knowledge and skills in critical analysis of sport, physical activity and leisure. Students can gain training that will allow them to contribute to the strategic promotion of healthy physical activity in communities, that can be applied to interventions and programming across the lifespan (from young children to older adults), in established and under-represented populations (e.g., persons with disabilities, at-risk youth). Students will have opportunities to gain skills in critical inquiry they will use to question whether interventions or social policies address individual, social and environmental considerations, and to facilitate change in current approaches.

      Studies in this area of interest enable our graduates to pursue various career-paths in education, coaching and roles in promotion and programming of physical activity, sport and leisure. The emphasis of our program on both foundational knowledge and also how knowledge translates into action enables our graduates to pursue different occupational roles. For example, our graduates can become leaders in the development of recreation services and fitness programs in the community (e.g., community clubs, campus recreation departments, employee wellness programs), sport coaches, teachers of physical and health education in schools, mental performance consultants in high-performance sport (e.g., sport academies), and exercise consultants and health promoters working in community health centres. Our graduates can find roles in developing persuasive messages for ‘Active Living’ or ‘Get Fit’ media communications, and they can become advocates promoting the health benefits of physical activity, sport and leisure to policymakers in the public, private and non-profit sectors. Our graduates can also pursue research based or professional based graduate degrees relating to interventions in physical activity, sport and leisure.

      The Option in Studies of Social Issues in Sport, Physical Activity and Leisure offers an opportunity to improve your knowledge and skills in critical analysis of sport, physical activity and leisure to help you become an actor of social change in, and through, sport, physical activity and leisure. You will learn about the effect of social issues on sporting, physical and leisure practices as well as the impact of these practices on social change. In the process, you better understand how power relations are enacted in the context of sport, physical activity and leisure as well as understand how these practices become tools of social change.

      This program is offered in English and in French.

      The French immersion stream is available with this program.

      Requirements for this program have been modified. Please consult the 2025-2026 calendars for the previous requirements.

      Course List
        Code                                                                                   Title                                                                      Units  
        Basic skills                                                                                                                                                    
        ENG 1100                                                                               Workshop in Essay Writing                                                  3 Units
        3 course units from:                                                                   3 Units                                                                  
          ENG 1112                                                                             Technical Report Writing                                                          
          ENG 1120                                                                             Selected Topics in Literature and Composition                                     
        Compulsory Courses at the 1000 level                                                                                                                            
        APA 1105                                                                               Functional Anatomy of Movement                                             3 Units
        APA 1122                                                                               Physical Activity in a Global Health Perspective                           3 Units
        APA 1302                                                                               Sociology of Sport and Physical Activity in Canada                         3 Units
        LSR 1100                                                                               Introduction to Leisure Studies                                            3 Units
        LSR 1105                                                                               Leisure in Canadian Society                                                3 Units
        Compulsory Courses at the 2000 level                                                                                                                            
        APA 2111                                                                               Intervention Theories                                                      3 Units
        APA 2116                                                                               Principles of Coaching                                                     3 Units
        APA 2140                                                                               Introduction to Sport and Exercise Psychology                              3 Units
        APA 2180                                                                               Research Methods in Human Kinetics                                         3 Units
        APA 2302                                                                               History of Sport and Physical Activity in Canada                           3 Units
        LSR 2118                                                                               Recreation Program Development and Evaluation                              3 Units
        Compulsory Courses at the 3000 level                                                                                                                            
        APA 3111                                                                               Physical Education Methods: Intervention, Observation and Experimentation  3 Units
        APA 3118                                                                               Recreation, Sport and Community Development                                3 Units
        APA 3119                                                                               Coaching Training Methods                                                  3 Units
        APA 3301                                                                               Ethics in Sport, Physical Activity and Health in Canada                    3 Units
        APA 3325                                                                               Fitness Training Principles                                                3 Units
        APA 3381                                                                               Measurement and Data Analysis in Human Kinetics                            3 Units
        Compulsory Course at the 4000 level                                                                                                                             
        APA 4123                                                                               Physical Activity Counselling                                              3 Units
        APA 4320                                                                               Advanced Coaching: Global Preparation in a Sport                           3 Units
        Optional Courses                                                                                                                                                
        3 course units from:                                                                   3 Units                                                                  
          PSY 1101                                                                             Introduction to Psychology: Foundations                                           
          PSY 1102                                                                             Introduction to Psychology: Applications                                          
        3 course units from:                                                                   3 Units                                                                  
          SOC 1101                                                                             Principles of Sociology                                                           
          SOC 1106                                                                             Exploring Diversity in Canada                                                     
        3 course units from:                                                                   3 Units                                                                  
          PHI 1101                                                                             Reasoning and Critical Thinking                                                   
          PHI 1370                                                                             Philosophical Issues in Health Care                                               
          PSY 1101                                                                             Introduction to Psychology: Foundations                                           
          PSY 1102                                                                             Introduction to Psychology: Applications                                          
          SOC 1101                                                                             Principles of Sociology                                                           
          SOC 1106                                                                             Exploring Diversity in Canada                                                     
        6 course units from:                                                                   6 Units                                                                  
          APA 2120                                                                             Motor Control and Learning                                                        
          APA 2312                                                                             Physiology of Physical Activity                                                   
          APA 2315                                                                             Introduction to Applied Biomechanics                                              
        6 course units from Studies of Social Issues in Sport, Physical Activity and Leisure:  6 Units                                                                  
          APA 3123                                                                             Hockey and Canadian Culture                                                       
          APA 3142                                                                             Sociology of Health and Physical Activity in Canada                               
          APA 4101                                                                             Anthropology of Sport and Leisure                                                 
          APA 4112                                                                             Political Economy of Sport and Physical Activity                                  
          APA 4115                                                                             Sport and Identities                                                              
          APA 4120                                                                             Sport and Physical Activity in Aging Populations                                  
          LSR 3105                                                                             Parks and Protected Areas                                                         
          LSR 3116                                                                             Leisure Education/Counselling                                                     
        6 cours units from:                                                                    6 Units                                                                  
          APA 4200                                                                             Research Project                                                                  
          APA 4211                                                                             Internship/Clinical Experience                                                    
        Elective Courses                                                                                                                                                
        30 elective course units                                                               30 Units                                                                 
          or a minor                                                                                                                                                    
        Total:                                                                                 120 Units                                                                
        
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