Nova Scotia, the Easterly Canadian province, will become the first in Canada to introduce compulsory helmets for everyone using the ski slopes.

First of its kind in the world?
The provincial government has announced that adults and children alike will have to wear helmets and it is believed that this may be the first time a law like this has been introduced anywhere in the world.

In France and Italy it has been a legal requirement for children to wear helmets for a few years now and it was also recently made law in New Jersey, however enforcing the rule on adults has not been seen anywhere before. In some individual ski resorts adults have been made to wear helmets, but that has only been aimed at ski resort staff; people taking ski lessons; and people using the terrain parks.

The new law is in place to ensure the onus is on the skiers and snowboarders to wear helmets, rather than on the resorts to enforce them to do so. Anyone found not wearing a helmet can be fined up to $250 Cdn.

In order to ensure the law is not broken, investigators will be sent to ski areas to enforce compliance and clear warning notices are to be erected around resorts.

The new law will come into place in November 2012.

The Snowboard Club report that Nova Scotia’s Health and Wellness Minister Maureen MacDonald says that since 2000, there have been 11 traumatic brain injuries attributed to people skiing or snowboarding without a helmet in Nova Scotia.

He said: "It may seem like a small number to many spread over this 11-year period, but when we consider the impacts... there's nothing small about it."

MacDonald told a press conference that it costs the local health system about $400,000 per year to care for people with a brain injury.

According to local media reports, around 88% of Nova Scotia skiers already wear helmets, which is the highest percentage in Canada.

Picture: US CPSC