Ontario Invests $1.5M into Carrot Rewards App, Used by 200,000 Ontarians

The government of Ontario announced today it is investing $1.5 million on the Carrot Rewards mobile app, which tracks a user’s activity and promotes healthy living, in exchange for real-life rewards.

The app was developed by Toronto developer Carrot Insights back in 2015 and launched in B.C. in March 2016 (3 per cents of residents use it daily). The app launched in Newfoundland and Labrador shortly after B.C. and saw 5 per cent of residents use the app.

Carrot Rewards launched in Ontario less than three months ago, and since then it already has over 200,000 active daily users, about 1.5 per cent of the province’s population.

Eleanor McMahon, Ontario’s minister of sport, told CTV News the government plans to use the app to assist people in making the right choices for healthier lives, saying “It behooves us to think about how we can motivate people, because we need to. We need to live differently.”

“Ontario is happy to support the Carrot Rewards app,” says Dr. Eric Hoskins, Ontario’s Health Minister. “It’s an innovative platform that encourages people to be active and eat healthy. Our government is committed to help Ontarians manage their own health through the use of new, user-friendly digital tools like this one.”

Carrot Insights developed the app with funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada and the British Columbia Ministry of Health, along with participating from the BC Alliance for Healthy Living Society. In 2015, it was announced $15 million would be poured into Carrot Rewards over a five-year period.

Users of the app can collect SCENE points, Aeroplan, Petro-Points and More Rewards by completing quizzes, surveys and more, while also connecting the app to Apple Health to get steps data.

Click here to download Carrot Rewards for iOS in the App Store—It also supports Apple Watch (use my referral code garyn1465 and we both get bonus miles/points when you sign up).