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 support from CAA Clubs across Canada supporting the expansion of the program at the national level.
Learn More about the Canada-Wide Expansion of the BFC Program
Share the Road hosted a webinar for all municipalities across Canada to learn about the BFC Program and to help them better understand what they can do to get started and how the Program can help their community. The webinar was recorded, and is available for viewing, So Click Here to View the Recording!
City of Ottawa receives Gold designation in 2013
Communities complete a thorough application and are judged in five categories often referred to as the Four “ Es": Engineering, Education, Encouragement, and Evaluation & Planning. In August 2020, Share the Road followed the lead of our partners at the League of American Bicyclists and removed the "Enforcement" section of the Bicycle Friendly Communities Application. A community must demonstrate achievements in each of the four 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
EVALUATION & PLANNING - Processes that demonstrate a commitment to measuring results and planning for the future
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 November 20, 2020. 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.
44 Communities in Ontario are Bicycle Friendly Communities
View Bicycle Friendly Communities - June 2013 in a larger map
Gold
- Ottawa
- Toronto
- Waterloo
Silver
- Ajax
- The Town of Blue Mountains
- Burlington
- Guelph
- Hamilton
- Kitchener
- Pelham
- Peterborough
Bronze
- Belleville
- Brampton
- Caledon
- Cambridge
- Cobourg
- Collingwood
- Cornwall
- Essex
- Greater Sudbury
- Halton Hills
- Ingersoll
- London
- Kingston
- Markham
- Milton
- Mississauga
- Mississippi Mills
- Newmarket
- Niagara Falls
- Norfolk County
- Oakville
- Oshawa
- Richmond Hill
- St. Catharines
- St. Thomas
- Saugeen Shores
- Temiskaming Shores
- Thorold
- Thunder Bay
- Wasaga Beach
- Welland
- Whitby
- Windsor
The 2017 Bicycle Friendly Communities Yearbook
To view past BFC yearbooks, click here.