Residents living near six recreational centres will be able to sign up for programs a week before registration opens to the general public.
The City of Toronto announced on Tuesday that it will launch a pilot program called the Early Local Registration Initiative on June 3, starting with six community centres.
Mayor Olivia Chow said local residents have been calling for improved access to recreational programs for a long time.
“I’ve heard you,” Chow said during a news conference at the Regent Park Community Centre. “It took us a bit of time to get it organized (but) here we are.”
She shared that she had heard from local residents that many recreational programs at their centres are being enjoyed by people from other parts of the city.
“Some people might say, hey, I really want to use that pool, but they don’t live in the neighbourhood. And by doing that, it ends up, a lot of the local kids end up not being able to register for the swim program,” the mayor said.
“We think the local neighbours should have priority first.”
Two residents of Regent Park, who are part of a group advocating for early access, spoke during the news conference, expressing their excitement about the program.
“This is a big milestone for us,” said Hani Afra.
For Rabia Alsabaie, it’s something that her community has been waiting for a long time.
“As an immigrant, it’s so hard for us to navigate the system here. On top of that, you want me to wake up at 7 o’clock and chase after other people who have good internet, laptop access, and other things. They are just relaxing and hit the button,” she said.
“It’s a moment for us as a community.”
The six community centres part of the pilot are the following:
- Antibes Community Centre, 140 Antibes Dr.
- Centennial Recreation Centre, 1967 Ellesmere Rd.
- Fallstaff Community Recreation Centre, 50 Falstaff Ave.
- Pam McConnell Aquatic Centre, 640 Dundas St. E.
- Regent Park Athletic Grounds, 480 Shuter St. and Regent Park Community Centre, 402 Shuter St.
- Scarborough Village Recreation Centre, 3600 Kingston Rd.
Howie Dayton, the general manager of the city’s park and recreation, explained that eligibility for early access to programs is based on postal codes.
He said residents living between one and two kilometers from the community centres would be eligible.
As for how the city will ensure the system is fair, Dayton said the city has the ability to determine whether accounts are being created with the correct postal codes.
“There is an honour system around it. We’re not asking for proof of residence for people to come into the center and use our centre. We don’t want to create that barrier, but there’s ways that we can sort of audit the system by exception and determine whether or not we need to do any correction or re-education of the public in terms of how to access those programs,” he said.
The mayor noted that the city will review the results of the pilot, and if it is successful, it will be expanded to the other 31 community centres.
