905 communities employ user-pay approach

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Toronto's proposed new plan to increase fees on some recreation programs by 66 per cent over the next seven years may hit some residents in the pocketbook, but compared to the fees that neighbouring municipalities charge, Toronto recreation users have been getting a deal for years.

In Mississauga, for instance, a 10-week swimming program costs $77, compared to $48 for nine weeks in Toronto. An adult fitness program? Forty-three dollars for nine weeks in Toronto; $82.50 for 13 weeks in Mississauga. The Town of Markham charges $82 for 15 weeks.

That cost differential carries across the board in the Greater Toronto Area.

According to a 2006 study of recreation pricing carried out by the city's parks forestry and recreation department, Toronto has the lowest levels of cost recovery in the region, funding its recreation programs using fees to the tune of just 30 per cent. The study indicates that Mississauga recovers about 55 per cent to 65 per cent of its costs from fees, while Markham takes back 89 per cent of its costs from fees.

In fact, the cost recovery for Mississauga may be even higher.

Stu Taylor, Mississauga's manager of operational planning for Mississauga recreation and parks pointed out that the 55 per cent number actually refers to recovering all the costs of the parks and recreation department. Allan Seabrooke, Markham's acting commissioner of community and fire services, said the cost recovery is more like 70 per cent for recreation programs.

But both officials made it clear that their municipalities operated from a fundamentally different set of assumptions than does Toronto.

"I think it's just been historic," Seabrooke said. "Markham has grown from being a smaller community to a much larger community, and it's always been the feeling of community or council to have a user-pay philosophy."

That philosophy is markedly different than the one that Toronto has largely inherited from the pre-amalgamation former city of Toronto, where until 1998 recreation programs were delivered for free. While fees have been a fact of life across the city since then, Toronto has gone to great lengths to make sure that disadvantaged residents are able to access programs without paying. The city loses about $3 million a year to cover the city's Welcome Policy and keep 21 priority centres open where no fees are charged.

Mississauga looks after disadvantaged residents in their programs too, but the model couldn't be more different.

According to Taylor, Mississauga has some mechanisms for subsidizing recreation fees, but none of them are taxpayer funded.

In that municipality, there are two main programs. One is the Jerry Love Fund - named for a former city parks and recreation commissioner who still administers the fund. Far from Toronto's system of basing assistance on neighbourhood or income testing, Mississauga relies on referrals from local clergy and social workers.

The other program is funded by Wal-Mart to provide free opportunities for youth.

"The city also has the Wal-Mart At Play program - there are after-school programs across the city where there's no charge," he said.

The Wal-Mart At Play program provides free drop-in programs to children and youth across Mississauga, focusing on 10 to 12 year olds, and 13 to 15 year olds.