Sleep
A healthy lifestyle requires a balance of physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and sleep. Sleep is essential for a productive lifestyle and overall health and wellness. Sleep is a result of your sleep-wake cycle, also known as your circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythm is your internal biological “clock” that tells you when you are tired and when to wake up. Each day your biological “clock” must be reset. Sunshine or bright light in the morning helps reset your clock.
How much sleep do we need?
We spend one third of our whole life asleep! Learn how much sleep is needed for individuals throughout the lifespan, during:
| Age | Recommended hours |
|---|---|
| Newborn (0 to 3 months) | 14 to 17 hours |
| Infant (4 to 11 months) | 12 to 16 hours |
| Toddler (1 to 2 years) | 11 to 14 hours |
| Pre-school (3 to 4 years) | 10 to 13 hours |
| School age (5 to 13 years) | 9 to 11 hours |
| Teen (14 to 17 years) | 8 to 10 hours |
| Adult (18 to 64 years) | 7 to 9 hours |
| Older adult (65+) | 7 to 8 hours |
Why do we need sleep?
- To help us learn new things.
- To rest, restore, and rejuvenate our body.
- To grow muscle.
- To repair tissue.
- To make hormones.
- To help regulate emotions and effectively manage stress.
- To process the information, we take in throughout the day. When you sleep, information is moved from our short-term “memory bank” to stronger, long-term memory, a process called “memory consolidation”.
How can we get sleep and stay asleep?
There are many things you do during the day that can affect the quality and quantity of your sleep. The things you do during the day and before bedtime are known as sleep hygiene.
Sleep cycles
Sleep is a very active process. While we sleep, we cycle through 5 stages. Each cycle lasts about 90 minutes, and we cycle 4 to 6 times each night.
- Stage 1 is the stage from being awake to asleep.
- Stage 2 is when you are fully asleep. Brain waves slow. Heart rates slow and body temperature drops.
- Stages 3 and 4 are deeper sleep. These stages are important for the body to repair and restore itself.
- Stage 5 REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. This stage is named after its rapid eye movements. This is the stage where dreaming occurs. This stage is important for memory, consolidation, and learning.
If you have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, snore, experience pauses in breathing at night or any other concern with your sleep, please contact your health care provider.
Sleep and shiftwork
Working at night works against your natural biological clock making it hard to get a good sleep. Learn how to maintain energy and health while working irregular hours.
Drowsy Driving Drowsy driving is a serious problem and is second only to alcohol as the leading cause of motor vehicle collisions. Understand the impact of fatigue on driving and explore tips to stay alert.
Helpful resources
Sleep diary (Sleep On It Canada, PDF)
Are Canadian Kids Too Tired to Move? (ParticipACTION, PDF)
Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years (ParticipACTION)
Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth (ParticipACTION)
Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Adults: Ages 18-64 (ParticipACTION)
Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Adults: Ages 65+ (ParticipACTION)
This item was last modified on August 6, 2025