Key elements of the Parks and Recreation Facility Master Plan include:
- an inventory of all current municipal active parkland and recreation facilities;
- a summary of population, growth and demographic projections;
- recommendations for the amount of new parkland and number of new recreation facilities needed by 2031;
- strategies for achieving the Plan’s recommendations.
Provision level targets and recommendations within the final version of this Plan will have been approved by Committee and City Council for municipal, active parkland and for twenty-three facility types (such as recreation complexes, aquatic facilities, sports fields, etc.) per 1,000 residents. Recommendations are based on consultation feedback, staff input, analysis of current inventory, population projections, priority neighbourhoods, recent usage and recreation trends, municipal benchmarking and the application of an affordability lens.
This Plan will be used by City staff and the development community as they plan and develop new parks and recreation facilities across the City. This information may be of value to other recreation providers including community associations, sport organizations, colleges and universities as they plan for the future.
The Plan identifies and explains the main methods by which the City can fund the capital construction of new parks, indoor and outdoor recreation facilities, the replacement of facilities that are at end of life, the redevelopment of existing parks, indoor and outdoor recreation facilities and the addition of new amenities to parks and recreation buildings. Each funding source has its own restrictions and main usage, which are discussed within this Plan. These limitations are discussed and issues that may need to be re-examined are identified.
The City conducted several rounds of consultation specific to the Plan. Consultation methods included surveys, online consultation sessions and targeted meetings that ran from January to the end of July 2021. The City also received, accepted and analyzed feedback via phone, fax, mail and email. Note that consultations were carried out at a time when significant public health restrictions were in force requiring primarily a virtual approach.
Stakeholders included individual residents, institutional partners such as the National Capital Commission, the school boards, colleges and universities, industry groups, sports organizations, community associations, staff from numerous City departments, advisory committees and non-profit organizations working with equity deserving residents. The City of Ottawa Report on findings from Women and Gender Equity Strategy Consultations in 2019 highlighted the priorities that have been considered during development of the Plan, including a gender inclusive city, representation, and resident engagement.
A more detailed description and analysis of the consultation that formed part of the preparation of this Plan is available in the supporting City of Ottawa Parks and Recreation Facilities Master Plan – Consultation Summary Report. This Plan has been prepared in part to fulfill the requirements of producing a municipal parks plan under Section 42 of the Planning Act. The COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act, introduced as Bill 197, received Royal Assent in July 2020. The Province concurrently released Ontario Regulation 509/20, Community Benefits Charges and Parkland, under the Planning Act. A new subsection requires that all current parkland dedication by-laws that calculate parkland dedication based on the alternative requirement to be re-enacted by September 2022, or they will expire on this date.
Once the Plan is approved by Committee and Council demonstrating the need for more parkland, it will be possible to continue to collect alternative parkland dedication funds. This is important if the City wishes to continue to collect the funding required to provide parkland at the rate that will meet its residents’ projected future needs related to growth.
The City has undertaken the development of an Anti-Racism Strategy through its Anti-Racism Secretariat (ARS) to address systemic racism confronting Indigenous, Black, Asian, Muslim, Jewish, and other communities. Ensuring all of these perspectives are represented sufficiently is critical to the formation of a meaningful and impactful, data-informed, and data-driven Plan. This Plan acknowledges that it will align with any future Anti-Racism Strategy approved by Council, and that decisions concerning recreational assets will apply an anti-racist approach concerning the development, evaluation and measurement of policies. The plan will apply the elements of the Anti-Racism Strategy to achieve an increase in the diversity in City partnerships and locating new facilities in neighbourhoods that have high concentrations of equity-seeking communities that experience high levels of economic disadvantage.
