This summer, Sun Life Financial and ParticipACTION are rallying Canadians to get off their couches, get moving, and inspire others to do the same through the ParticipACTION Sun Life - Inspire the nation tour.

From June 26 to August 27, 2009, the tour will sweep through 31 communities across Canada, igniting opportunity and passion for physical activity with thought-provoking and inspiring "get active" messages.

ParticipACTION and Sun Life Financial will be working with partner organizations in every community of the tour to rally local support and promote interest in the sport, recreation and physical activity programs available in that region.

"We want Canadians to join us in the movement to make physical activity a part of who we are as a nation."

"We are facing an inactivity crisis in our country, and the private, public and non-profit sectors must work together to effect change," says Kelly Murumets, President and CEO, ParticipACTION. "Sun Life is an enthusiastic and committed partner in our quest to motivate people to get more active and encourage family, friends and colleagues to follow their lead."

"We partnered with ParticipACTION to bring the message to Canadians that small, simple changes can have an impact on health and wellness and to inspire individuals, families and communities to get involved and make these changes." says Donald Stewart, CEO, Sun Life Financial.

"In hearing these stories from other Canadians, people may be surprised to find out how easy it is to add more physical activity to their lives."

The tour is an extension of ParticipACTION's Get Inspired. Get Moving. public awareness campaign, celebrating individuals who've incorporated physical activity into their lifestyle, inspiring others to do the same.

One of the highlights of the tour is the Inspiration Booth, which is travelling 15,000 kms across Canada in a purple and orange Mobilexhibit trailer.

Simple and fun to use, the Inspiration Booth offers Canadians the opportunity to record a video about how they have added more movement into their lives. When the recording is complete, it will be e-mailed as a ParticipACTION Sun Life commercial, which the user can forward to family, friends and colleagues.

These inspiring stories will also be uploaded to ParticipACTION's online Wall of Inspiration to further motivate Canadians to add more activity to their daily lives. Some of the stories could be featured in nationally aired ParticipACTION television commercials in the fall of 2009.

The Wall of Inspiration was created for ParticipACTION's Get Inspired. Get Moving public awareness campaign, which features real-life Canadians who tell powerful, personal stories about how they've overcome barriers to achieve a healthier, more active future for themselves and their families.

The ParticipACTION Sun Life Inspire the nation team — trained, staffed and managed by Toronto-based activation agency TrojanOne — maintains a blog at the ParticipACTION website, recounting visitor interactions along the route.

Visit the website to view videos recorded on the tour.

Join the ParticipACTION Sun Life - Inspire the nation Facebook page and follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SLF_GetActive

ParticipACTION is the national voice of physical activity and sport participation in Canada. Originally established in 1971, ParticipACTION was re-launched in 2007 to help prevent the looming inactivity and obesity crisis that faces Canada. As a national not-for-profit organization solely dedicated to inspiring and supporting healthy and active living for Canadians, it works with its partners, which include sport, physical activity, recreation organizations, government and corporate sponsors, to inspire and support Canadians to move more. ParticipACTION is generously supported by Sport Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada. For more information, visit www.participACTION.com.

Sun Life Financial is a leading international financial services organization providing a diverse range of protection and wealth accumulation products and services to individuals and corporate customers. Chartered in 1865, Sun Life Financial and its partners today have operations in key markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China and Bermuda. As of March 31, 2009, the Sun Life Financial group of companies had total assets under management of CDN$375 billion.

Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under ticker symbol SLF.

TrojanOne is a leader in the Canadian marketing industry with operations in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax. TrojanOne is highly experienced in Sports Marketing, Event Management, and Sponsorship Consultation. For more information visit www.TrojanOne.com.

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