Bicycle Friendly Communities

About the Program

The Bicycle Friendly Community Award (BFC) Program provides incentives, hands-on assistance, and award recognition for communities that actively support bicycling. The BFC Program was launched by the Share the Road Cycling Coalition in Canada in August 2010 in partnership with the Washington based League of American Bicyclists.  

In Canada, the Canadian Automobile Association (South Central Ontario) is the major sponsor of the program, with additional support coming from Trek Canada.

City of Ottawa receives Gold designation in 2013

Communities complete a thorough application and are judged in five categories often referred to as the Five “ Es": Engineering, Education, Encouragement, Enforcement, and Evaluation & Planning. A community must demonstrate achievements in each of the five categories in order to be considered for an award on the Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum or Diamond level. Applications are judged by a volunteer panel of expert judges and communities with more significant achievements in these areas receive higher awards. The BFC application is a great self-assessment tool, as communities see where they can improve in each of these categories.

The 5 ‘Es’

ENGINEERING - Physical infrastructure and hardware to support cycling

EDUCATION- Programs that ensure the safety, comfort and convenience of cyclists and fellow road users

ENCOURAGEMENT - Incentives, promotions and opportunities that inspire people and enable them to ride

ENFORCEMENT - Equitable laws and programs that ensure that cyclists and motorists are held accountable

EVALUATION & PLANNING - Processes that demonstrate a commitment to measuring results and planning for the future

Fall 2017 Bicycle Friendly Community Awards

The Fall 2017 application round for BFC awards saw Ontario's 40th community recognized as Bicycle Friendly, with The City of Greater Sudbury joining the ranks of Bicycle Friendly Communities with a Bronze award. The Town of Ajax also saw their designation level improve from Bronze to Silver, becoming Durham Region's first Silver level BFC.  The City of Ottawa maintained its Gold level BFC Certification, showing that Canada's Capital City is a leader in Ontario when it comes to cycling, and the City of Thorold also renewed its Bronze level BFC status. The success of our BFC Workshops continue to be highlighted by communities that are joining the BFC Program, with Saugeen Shores hosting a workshop in May of 2017 before earning an Honourable Mention during the Fall application period.  The Town of Lincoln also earned an Honourable Mention, expanding the number of communities participating in the BFC Program from the Niagara Region to 8. 

The Fall 2017 round of Bicycle Friendly Communities awards were announced via a press release on January 10th, and awards will be handed out at the 2018 Ontario Bike Summit. For a Press Release about the most recent awards, click here. 

Representatives from the Town of Ingersoll Receive their BFC Award at the 2017 Ontario Bike Summit

If you are interested in applying for the BFC program, the next round of applications will close on March 2, 2018. To receive announcements about the deadline without beginning an application, please email [email protected] to be added to the contact list for all BFC updates. To begin your application, check out the Getting Started page.  If you have would like to log in to the Bicycle Friendly Communities application page, click here to login with an existing account, or click here to set up a new application. Please contact [email protected] if your community should have any questions. You can also find the Frequently Asked Questions section about the BFC Program HERE.

APPLICATION

40 Communities in Ontario are Bicycle Friendly Communities

View Bicycle Friendly Communities - June 2013 in a larger map

Gold

• Ottawa
  
• Toronto
  

Silver

• Ajax (Moved up in 2017)
• The Town of Blue Mountains
  
• Burlington
• Guelph
• Hamilton
• Kitchener
  
• Pelham
• Peterborough
  
• Waterloo
  

Bronze

• Belleville (New in 2017)
• Brampton (New in 2017)
• Cambridge 
• Collingwood 
• Cornwall
• Greater Sudbury (New in 2017)
• Grimsby
• Halton Hills
• Ingersoll (New in 2017)
• London
• Kingston
• Markham
• Milton
  
• Mississauga
• Mississippi Mills
• Newmarket
  
• Niagara Falls
• Oakville
• Oshawa
• Richmond Hill
• St. Catharine's
  
• St. Thomas (New in 2017)
• Temiskaming Shores 
• Thorold
• Thunder Bay
• Wasaga Beach
  
• Welland
• Whitby 
• Windsor

The 2016 Bicycle Friendly Communities Yearbook

To view past BFC yearbooks, click here.