Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division


The City of Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division is the largest division of the Toronto municipal government. It is responsible for city-owned parks, forests, and recreation centres. With an gross annual budget in 2018 of C$468 million, the division is responsible for the City's over 3 million trees, 1473 named parks, 839 sports fields, 137 community centres, and about 670 other recreational facilities including: pools, golf courses, ski centres, skating rinks, greenhouses and ferries. Each year, more than 1.2 million Toronto residents participate in over 54,000 recreation and leisure programs offered by the division.

History

1884-1997

In 1884, an administrative group named the Committee on Public Walks and Gardens, was officially created to oversee the city’s parks and green space. Before then, the city as a whole was responsible for them since the incorporation of Toronto in 1834. In the nineteenth century, the focus of the committee was on the maintenance of green space and the provision of walks and gardens; not much was addressed in terms of recreational activities or recreation facilities. In the early twentieth century, the social conditions of the city changed dramatically, and supervised recreational activities became a subject of interest. The twentieth century also marked the development of playgrounds around the city. In 1912, there were no playgrounds; by 1947 there were 121. Picnic and recreational facilities were also opened up around the city in the parks. In 1945, the department was given the responsibility to oversee the creation and maintenance of community centres. In 1947, the department was renamed as the Department of Parks and Recreation.

1998-2004

Following the city merger in 1998 the former department Metro Toronto Parks and Culture and merged with the counterpart department in each of the former municipalities to former the current department:
In 2005, the Department of Parks and Recreation was split into the Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division and the Toronto Economic Development and Culture Division.
The division reported to a deputy city manager and with the new executive committee it will report to two councillors who are heads of city council standing commott:
The City of Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division’s vision is for Toronto to be known by the world as a “City within a Park”, a tapestry of parks, open spaces, rivers and streets that will connect their neighbourhoods and join them with their clean, vibrant lakefront.

Branches

Currently, the Division is organized into six branches: Community Recreation; Parks; Urban Forestry; Management Services; Parks Development and Capital Projects; and Policy & Strategic Planning.

Community Recreation

The Community Recreation branch is responsible for providing recreational programming. It operates 137 community centres, 48 indoor ice pads, 64 outdoor ice pads, 65 indoor pools, and 59 outdoor pools. The Director is Howie Dayton. Most instructors and program staff are hired on a part time basis. The branch has four service areas, community recreation, aquatics, customer service, and standards and innovation.

Aquatics

The Aquatics Section is responsible for the operation of the City's 65 indoor pools, 59 seasonal outdoor pools, 100 wading pools, 93 splash pads, the Kidstown water park, and providing aquatic instructional programs. The Manager is Aydin Sarrafzadeh. The section operates several olympic sized swimming pools, including the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, and the Etobicoke Olympium. Instructional programs include the Learn to Swim program and Ultra levels, which were developed with the Lifesaving Society, SPLASH Swim Team, stroke improvement, Jr. lifeguard courses, and lifesaving courses including National Lifeguard certification. Leisure swim is offered free of charge at all pools operated by the division.

Fun guide

The department releases a semi-annual booklet called the FUN Guide, providing information on programs and services available for people of all ages. There is a booklet produced for each city district: Etobicoke York, North York, Scarborough and Toronto & East York. The booklet is organized by topics such as: Adapted/Integrated Services, Preschool, Registration, Arts, Camps, Fitness and Wellness, Jobs, Leadership, Older Adults, Permits, Skating, Ski & Snowboarding, Sports, Swimming, Youth, and Volunteers. Other recreational activities and services provided by the division are: camping facilities, community centres, cycling, discovery walks, golfing, and tennis.

Welcome Policy

The City offers a subsidy to help low income individuals and families access recreational programming, provided in the form of a credit on the City's "efun" system. As of 2018, the credit is $537 for children and youth, and $249 for adults and seniors.

Parks

The Parks branch's responsibilities include the operation of the division's 1500 parks, providing ferry service to and from the Toronto Islands, managing the two animal farms and High Park Zoo, administrating the community gardens program, and providing plants for the city's gardens and conservatories. The Director is Richard Ubbens. Public parks are governed by City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 608.

Discovery Walks

A series of self-guided trails in various parks in the city along rivers, ravines and beaches that have cultural and historical significance:
The Urban Forestry branch is responsible for maintaining the City's urban forest protecting trees and maintaining tree health, and the enforcement and implementation of by-laws, and city policies pertaining to forestry and trees. The Director is Jason Doyle. Trees are governed by City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 813.

Organization and Operation

The division reports directly to a Deputy City Manager, and is led by a General Manager. The division is divided into:
Formerly, the division organized the city into five districts: North, South, East, West and Central Services and Waterfront. The Central Services and Waterfront District were responsible for cross-city issues as well as specific services such as the ferry services. The North, East, South and West Districts were further divided into three physical areas. Each of these subdivisions had a manager in charge of the operation of recreational programming, facilities and parks; a Technical Services and Urban Forestry Section responsible for the delivery of forestry services, facilities and park maintenance, and janitorial support; and an Operations Support Co-ordinator in charge of overseeing the cohesiveness of their subdivision with others as well as the community.

Responsibilities

The Parks, Forestry & Recreation Division is responsible for:
Some marinas are owned by the city, some are operated by private clubs:
The Parks branch also operates five ferries that travel to the Toronto Islands