Latest news with #Harbourfront
Associated Press
26-05-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
Stride and UNITY Fitness Announce Market-First Partnership, Redefining Personal Health Optimisation in Canada
TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 26, 2025-- In a bold move set to reshape Canada's health and wellness landscape, Stride — the digital-first leader in health optimisation — has partnered with UNITY Fitness Harbourfront, Toronto's destination for holistic fitness and recovery, to launch the first integrated health enhancement membership of its kind in the Canadian market. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: Launching May 29th, the new UNITY360 memberships will offer an unprecedented combination of advanced health diagnostics, personalised wellness services, and exclusive lifestyle perks — marking a significant step toward democratising elite wellness experiences. A Preventative, Data-Driven Health Revolution At the heart of this partnership is a shared mission: to shift the narrative from reactive care to proactive, preventative health. Powered by Stride's comprehensive health optimisation ecosystem, UNITY360 members will now have access to a suite of best-in-class tests — including DNA, blood, gut biome, and methylation panels — alongside VO2 max and musculoskeletal assessments. 'This collaboration is about making optimal health accessible and actionable,' says Josh Allan, Director of Fitness and Athletics at UNITY. 'The UNITY 360 membership is designed to prioritise health span over life span, providing our community with an all-encompassing and actionable approach to wellness. By housing fitness, recovery, and diagnostic health services under one roof, we will be able to truly personalise our support to members at all points of their wellbeing journey.' Partnership Sets a New Standard for Health Optimisation in the Canadian Wellness Industry This partnership marks the first time a Canadian wellness brand has integrated data-led health optimisation testing into a fitness membership offering — a model already gaining traction in global wellness hubs like Los Angeles and New York. Andrew Steele, Stride's CEO, adds, 'At Stride, we believe in setting health standards, not just health goals. Through this partnership with UNITY, we're bringing scientifically-backed, data-informed health insights directly to where people move, train, and recover. It's about bringing optimal health to people where they are and giving them the tools to thrive.' Providing An Elevated All-In-One Health Optimisation Membership The enhanced UNITY 360 membership experience includes: With both brands approaching their first anniversary and experiencing rapid growth, the timing underscores a significant moment in Toronto's wellness evolution. 'Our community of biohackers, athletes, and everyday wellness enthusiasts is craving deeper, more meaningful ways to optimise their health,' says Adam Reynolds, Director of Strategy and Operations at UNITY Fitness. 'UNITY 360 is designed to support anyone passionate about upgrading their wellness, no matter where they are on their fitness journey.' Launch Details The program officially launches June 1st, with UNITY+ memberships available from June. Early member interest signals strong demand, with UNITY already boasting over 4,200 active members, including 1,280 corporate memberships. Pricing Details Prices start at $280+tax p/m (CAD) with a 12-month minimum commitment. About Stride Stride is a digital-first health optimisation company from the UK, revolutionising how people understand and optimise their health, fitness and longevity. On a mission to make tracking internal biomarkers as common as tracking wearable data, Stride has created the world's most comprehensive health testing membership. Stride bridges the gap between proactive wellness and reactive healthcare by analysing over 250 biomarkers across DNA, microbiome, and bloods. Stride empowers individuals to unlock their health potential through combining these advanced tests with personalised protocols, expert support, tailored supplementation, and continuous optimisation. This integrated, data-driven approach reveals the complete picture of an individual's internal biology, enabling truly personalised recommendations rather than generic health advice for measurable, long-term health optimisation. For more information about Stride, please visit About UNITY Fitness Located in the heart of Toronto's Sugar Wharf district, UNITY Fitness Harbourfront is a 45,000 sq ft state-of-the-art wellness club designed to inspire and empower individuals on their fitness journeys. With premium equipment, boutique-style classes, and curated services, UNITY offers an inclusive environment where members can achieve their goals while fostering a sense of belonging. Amenities include a full-sized basketball court that doubles as two pickleball courts, a two-lane saltwater pool, an infrared hot yoga studio, and a cycling studio, catering to diverse needs and lifestyles. As a versatile neighbourhood hub, UNITY combines fitness spaces, lounge areas, and boutique studios, bringing people together to build community through movement. For more information about UNITY, please visit View source version on CONTACT: Stride / UNITY: Natalie Elmitt [email protected] Davis [email protected] KEYWORD: NORTH AMERICA CANADA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: OTHER CONSUMER FITNESS & NUTRITION HEALTH TECHNOLOGY HEALTH INSURANCE BIOTECHNOLOGY PHYSICAL THERAPY HEALTH CONSUMER GENERAL HEALTH SOURCE: Stride Copyright Business Wire 2025. PUB: 05/26/2025 12:01 AM/DISC: 05/26/2025 12:01 AM
Toronto Star
25-05-2025
- Business
- Toronto Star
It's an oasis on Toronto's waterfront and it's under threat. The new CEO is making deep cuts to secure its future
Cathy Loblaw, appointed Harbourfront Centre CEO last June, is a woman of action, bringing back buskers and the skating rink, and launching a Farmer's Market and a full summer schedule of events, despite having had to cut jobs to balance the budget. In under a year, she has brought more change to the sprawling waterfront attraction than it's seen in decades: parting ways with The Power Plant art gallery and the Toronto International Festival of Authors, and ending Harbourfront's lease with the Fleck Dance Theatre, to shore up Harbourfront's precarious finances.
National Post
06-05-2025
- Politics
- National Post
Adam Vaughan: A bold new vision for Ontario Place
My love for Lake Ontario began when I was young. Like many people, my parents were not born in Canada. We didn't have a family cottage up north to escape to every summer. Our family stayed in Toronto and the waterfront was our playground. It's why I've spent my career fighting to make the waterfront an even better place to live, work and play. I've represented this part of Toronto at city hall and in Parliament. Article content Article content Article content I see Therme — which is developing a public park and beach, along with a water park and spa at Ontario Place — as a great addition to the work I've done. This is why I've joined their team. Article content Article content Over my career, I've helped lead movements to build waterfront parks and improve transit. I served on Harbourfront Centre's board and, while in politics, helped create new cultural facilities on Queen's Quay. I also worked to deliver the budget for Waterfront Toronto, to naturalize the Don Valley and move a vision for the Port Lands forward. Article content But more importantly, I've made sure we didn't just protect affordable housing along the shore of Lake Ontario, I helped build new social housing in the area, to make sure Toronto really does have a clean, green waterfront for all. Article content Critics have thrown everything at Therme's project. It's too big, too exclusive, too foreign, too expensive, too this and too that. It's too bad. Article content You have to wonder what these protesters would have said about the original Ontario Place. Imagine the push-back to dumping contaminated landfill in the lake to make artificial islands and then surrounding them with acres of surface parking lots on the water's edge. How would they have responded to a ticketed regional tourist draw with futuristic architecture, a luxury yacht club and fast-food outlets? Article content Article content To be clear, Therme is not doing any of this. But that's how the original Ontario Place was built in the 1970s. Article content Article content Therme's new facility is different. Plans include indoor water slides and pools, as well as places to indulge yourself with a massage or a sauna. It will be a place to bring kids or hang with friends or just relax on your own and have fun. Article content I've been to Therme's locations in Germany and Romania. Therme is not elitist or an expensive experience. It's affordable, popular and entirely in keeping with what Ontario Place used to be. Article content There is, however, one key departure from the original design. The admission gates to the grounds are being removed. Accessing the waterfront and the new green space the size of Trinity Bellwoods Park will be free at Ontario Place. You won't need a ticket to have a picnic or watch the sun set over Lake Ontario ever again. Article content One thing I hope everyone can agree on is that ever since the pods closed, free access to the water's edge has proven to be a good thing. The success of Trillium Park needs to be celebrated and expanded. Therme is excited to deliver around 16 acres of publicly accessible green space along the water's edge, with more shoreline habitat and over 3,000 new trees planted next to the lake. Building more parks is good for the people of Toronto.
CBC
05-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
New program at Summerside theatre aims to make young Islanders performing arts fans for life
Harbourfront Theatre in Summerside hopes to get more students on its stage and in its seats through a program it just launched. Stages for Students offers children free tickets to shows, and provides funding to help schools stage their own productions at the theatre. It's all part of the theatre's goal of nurturing and developing a love of performing arts on P.E.I., beginning with its youngest patrons. "Programming for young audiences has always been a part of our mandate and we've enjoyed hosting lots of Island schools in our earlier years," said Mary Dennis, Harbourfront Theatre's executive director. "As the years went on, there seemed to be a few more barriers to the schools being able to come in as much as they used to, and one of those barriers was, of course, a financial barrier." Finding funding wasn't just an issue for schools. The non-profit theatre was not in a position to offer something like Stages for Students on its own. Or it wasn't, until the stars aligned with a generous $25,000 donation from the family of Marcia Whalen, an educator and a volunteer at Harbourfront for 21 years who died in 2024. When her children asked if there was any programming a donation could go toward, the theatre's staff had exactly the right fit. "We love to dream big around here, and we imagined a program that would open our doors to the students of our community so that they could both attend performing arts and stage their own performances completely free of charge," Dennis said. 'Creating the audiences of tomorrow' Staff are now lining up programming for this fall, and they're inviting schools across the Island to bring busloads of kids to see a performance for free. Any school interested in staging its own production on Harbourfront's stage can find more information on the theatre's website. "We can make it snow, we can do all kinds of really cool things that they couldn't necessarily do at their schools.," Dennis said. "It really opens the doorway to whatever they can imagine [and] we can help them accomplish it." Since the donation in Whalen's memory will stretch only so far, the theatre is campaigning for more annual donors to help sustain Stages for Students. Any contributions are tax-deductible, and Islanders can donate to the program right now through the site. Dennis said those donations will result in personal growth and more confidence and creativity among young Islanders. "To foster a love of performing arts in kids at a young age means they're going to love the performing arts all their lives," she said. "We're basically creating the audiences of tomorrow."
