Have you wondered why some of your local landmarks are lit up in green each July 5?
This Friday, multiple landmarks and sites across Canada will turn on their green lights for the fourth annual National Injury Prevention Day (NIPD).
NIPD is a day to raise awareness around the importance of injury prevention and encourage Canadians to live longer lives through education. NIPD is led by
Parachute, Canada’s national charity dedicated to reducing the devastating impact of preventable injuries, and recognized by Health Canada.
“Injury prevention starts with each of us,” says Dr. Shelina Babul, director of the
BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit at BC Children’s Hospital. “Educating ourselves on how to stay safe, paying attention to our surroundings, thinking before we act, and being intentional in our movements, we can stop serious injuries from happening in the first place.”
Quick facts
- Every day, 48 Canadians die and 634 are hospitalized because of injuries
- Preventable injury kills more Canadian children than any disease, and more youth than all other causes combined
- 75 per cent of injury-related deaths are from unintentional causes, such as falls, car crashes and poisonings
- Falls are the leading cause of injury deaths, hospitalizations, emergency department visits and disabilities in Canada
- Falls and transport incidents had the highest total costs in 2018. These two causes combined added $13.8 billion to the total cost, making up almost half (47 per cent) of the cost of injury
Source: Cost of Injury in Canada, BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit (Parachute/BCIRPU)
Shine a green light on preventable injury
Injury prevention is critical to saving lives.
Did you know that injury is the number one cause of death of Canadians ages 1 to 44? Or that injury costs the Canadian economy $29.4 billion a year? Most injuries are predictable and preventable, and awareness is the first step to avoiding worse outcomes.
Victoria General Hospital lit up in green on July 5, 2023 (image: Times Colonist/Island Health)
In B.C., unintentional injuries (injuries that occur without planning or intent), accounted for 89%, or $3.8 billion, of injury costs as of 2018. More stats about the cost of injury within the province of B.C. are compiled on
BCIRPU’s webpage.
For 2024, confirmed landmarks in B.C. that are lighting up in green “turning safety on” are:
- Spirit of Sail, Kelowna
- The Bastion, Nanaimo
- City Hall, New Westminster
- City Hall, Port Coquitlam
- Fraser River Foot Bridge, Quesnel
- Civic Plaza, Surrey
- Victoria Street Bridge, Trail
- Fitzsimmons Creek Bridge, Whistler
- BC Place, Vancouver (on July 3)
- Olympic Cauldron, Vancouver
- Sails of Light, Vancouver
- Science World, Vancouver
- Vancouver Convention Centre, Vancouver
- City Hall, North Vancouver
- Ceremonial Entrance B.C. Parliament Building, Victoria
- Fountains, B.C. Parliament Building, Victoria
- Waterfall, B.C. Parliament Building, Victoria
How can I support NIPD and learn about preventable injuries?
