Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2009, 6 2488 Figure 2. Finding places and making spaces for activity in the Toronto subgroup. One man could not find a space for his exercise equipment in his home, and finally stored it in his garage where it sat unused. A woman had arthritis, but exercised in a special heated pool at a rehabilitation facility that was close to her home. Sudbury anglophone participants described harsh, long winters that limited outdoor exercise and travel to health-related appointments. Cars were a necessity for travel to more widely dispersed health resources. Those who lived on the outskirts of the city needed consistent access to a well maintained vehicle—something that many could not easily afford (see Figure 3). One man recounted his worries about car breakdowns during a period of financial hardship: …since I was living 20 minutes from the nearest shop or repair shop or trucking centre or so—and my car was almost 16 years old…I never took it to the repair shop in 12 years. I did most of the work myself. What I couldn’t do, I hoped it wouldn’t break down (laughs)… Those with additional chronic health problems such as arthritis found it difficult to carry out basic daily tasks under such harsh climatic conditions and also had to contend with clearing snow. This woman lived alone and described her struggles with the snow: Well I can only do it for a very short time and then I am really exhausted and I know that if I kept on maybe I would take a heart attack.…And then the asthma is in there too, you know…