Item - 2013.CD25.4

City Council adopted Parks, Forestry and Recreation's 2013-2017 Recreation Service Plan in November 2012.  The Plan will guide the City of Toronto's planning and delivery of recreation programs and services over the next five years.  An Implementation Plan was approved in July 2013.

This report responds to several City Council directions to Parks, Forestry and Recreation related to user fees: a review of user fees; the extent to which user fees are a barrier to participation; the health and social benefits of recreation; the financial impact of extending universal access to all recreation programming; and the financial implications of eliminating leisure swimming fees for children and youth in 2014.

This report aligns with the 2013-2017 Recreation Service Plan and is consistent with the  Corporate User Fee Policy approved in 2011 that ensures consistency in establishing and administering the City's user fee program.  Parks, Forestry and Recreation will be reporting to City Council in late 2015 with a formal user fee review of all recreation programs and services as required by the policy.

At its meeting on November 4, 2013, the Toronto Board of Health considered a report (October 24, 2013) from the Medical Officer of Health titled "Racialization and Health Inequities in Toronto" and directed that the report be forwarded to City Council as part of the background information in City Council's consideration of Item CD24.3 from Community Development and Recreation Committee on "Overview of Fees for Recreation Programs".