Ready, set, grow! Movember begins Tuesday

Tuesday, Nov. 1, marks the start of some unfortunate fuzzy upper lips cropping up, as the annual Movember campaign kicks off.

This year marks the 16th annual Movember campaign which, along with growing moustaches, raises critical funds for prostate cancer research and other men’s health initiatives.

Todd Minerson, country director for Movember Canada, says this edition will be the first one without COVID-19 restrictions since 2019.

“We’re excited that the community is coming out in full force and a lot of the things that we haven’t been able to do for the last couple of years are back,” he told CityNews. “But the fun, the creativity, the passion for mental health is really just coming through the roof this year.”

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He’s excited to see in-person activities back for the first time in three years.

“There are things like hot sauce competitions, karaoke-a-thons, firefighter challenges. We have one Mo Bro who is taking the Proclaimers song to heart and walking 500 miles in November, and if he’s successful, he’s going to walk another 500 more in December.”

Launched by two friends in Melbourne, Australia in 2003, the first Movember only had 30 participants. Fast forward almost 20 years and more than 6.8 million people participated in 2021 around the world.

Minerson says Canada is a massive part of the global movement, with more than 60,000 Canadians taking part last year, raising nearly $25 million.

“We really punch above our weight for the size of our market and the size of our community over our lifetime,” he said.

“We do that with the support of Mo Bros and Mo Sisters around the world and have raised over a billion dollars in the last 18, 19 years. So, it’s really incredible and Canada is a huge part of that.”