Recreation Services Review

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The City of Burlington has finished the Recreation Services Review for all registered and drop-in programs offered through the Recreation, Community and Culture Department.

The City provides many recreation programs for all ages on a year-round basis including aquatics, skating, music, theatre, arts and culture, camps, fitness, sport and accessible recreation programs.

Due to the uniqueness of the City of Burlington and partnership agreements, City of Burlington strives not to complete directly with private providers of programs.

This Project involved a review of direct delivered programs in other municipalities as well as getting feedback from program participants and the general public to ensure our programs meet the needs of the community.

Staff explored best practices in direct programming including program offerings, emerging trends and opportunities. The information was consolidated along with the feedback from community stakeholders to develop recommendations to ensure the City’s programs are relevant, meet community need and are fiscally responsible. Staff are reviewing all information in an attempt to increase and change programming based on community feedback.


The City of Burlington has finished the Recreation Services Review for all registered and drop-in programs offered through the Recreation, Community and Culture Department.

The City provides many recreation programs for all ages on a year-round basis including aquatics, skating, music, theatre, arts and culture, camps, fitness, sport and accessible recreation programs.

Due to the uniqueness of the City of Burlington and partnership agreements, City of Burlington strives not to complete directly with private providers of programs.

This Project involved a review of direct delivered programs in other municipalities as well as getting feedback from program participants and the general public to ensure our programs meet the needs of the community.

Staff explored best practices in direct programming including program offerings, emerging trends and opportunities. The information was consolidated along with the feedback from community stakeholders to develop recommendations to ensure the City’s programs are relevant, meet community need and are fiscally responsible. Staff are reviewing all information in an attempt to increase and change programming based on community feedback.


  • Project Update- March 2024

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    The City of Burlington has completed the review of all registered and drop-in programs offered through the Recreation, Community and Culture Department. Over the past several months, residents had the opportunity to provide input through an online survey.

    Here are some of the findings from the survey:

    • 874 participants were surveyed between May 1 – Oct. 16, 2023.
    • Current or past program participants reported an 80% or higher satisfaction rate in 14 out of 15 categories. Servicing people with disabilities remained at 70% satisfaction. Staff have been increasing inclusive programming throughout the year, including the addition of inclusive camp offerings and a sensory-friendly swim.
    • “More Availability” of programs could also be improved through:
      • Offering more evening and weekend programming for our 19+ demographic
      • More locations of programs especially in Aldershot and North Burlington
      • More program spots in popular programs such as in aquatics and certain sports
      • More variety of programs to include fundamental sport and art programs as well as diverse programming options (i.e. language classes and Bollywood)

    The results and themes of the data have already started to be used to improve recreational and cultural programming, including the addition of fundamental youth sport and art programs for the Winter season. Staff will continue to explore community investment opportunities in underutilized spaces, complete a fulsome review of our rates and fees, in addition will review our fee assistance program to continue to better serve our residents.

    Thank you to all everyone who participated in the survey. Your contributions will help make Burlington’s recreation and cultural programming more fun, desirable, inclusive and accessible.

  • City of Burlington looking for feedback on the types of recreation programs offered

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    The City of Burlington is looking for resident feedback on City-run recreation programs. Feedback is welcome from the community as a whole - past and current participants and those that haven’t registered in our programs. Feedback from everyone will help to understand the needs of the entire community. The survey will ask questions about what City-run recreation programs you have participated in, what programs you would be interested in and, would like to see offered. This review will help the City understand the recreation needs of our growing community. It will also help align the programs the City offers to serve all residents and visitors for aquatics, skating, inclusion, sport, camps, adults, older adults 55+ and programming in general for years to come.


    The survey is open until Nov 30, 2023.

Page last updated: 04 Mar 2024, 08:07 AM