Community recreation represents a wide range of amenities and experiences. It’s integral to providing people with opportunities to improve their physical and mental health and wellbeing, and to become more connected to each other and to their community.
The City has an existing robust and integrated system of indoor and outdoor facilities, amenities, and programs, which offer a variety of opportunities to residents.
In March 2020, Council endorsed the City’s Community Recreation Strategy - A Healthy City for All: The Role of Community Recreation. This represents Phase One of our Community Recreation Strategy and includes:
- A summary of the wide-ranging benefits of community recreation;
- A current inventory of spaces and assets;
- The vision and philosophical foundation for community recreation in the City; and
- A decision-making framework to help prioritize significant community recreational projects in the City.
Future work will consider the provision of arts and cultural amenities and their benefits to community health and wellness.
The Community Recreation Strategy has been provided below, in sections for your convenience. The entire document, A Healthy City for All: The Role of Community Recreation is also available as a PDF download.
The City’s vision is to create a healthy city for all. Quality community recreation, comprised of the built and natural environment, programs, and services, inspires residents to be active and connected to their community throughout their life.
Benefits of Community Recreation
Community recreation represents a wide range of amenities and experiences, providing people with the opportunity to improve physical and mental health and wellbeing, and to become more connected to each other and their community.
Community recreation is essential to personal health and wellbeing and has been proven to reduce health care, social service and police/justice costs. Community recreation provides opportunities for positive and healthy behaviours. Parks and green spaces have a positive impact on individual wellness and on the natural environment. Community recreation is integral to providing opportunities for residents of all ages, ethnicities, abilities and interests to live happy, active and connected lives.
A Strategy for Community Recreation
Realizing the immense value of community recreation and wellness at the individual, community, and environmental level the City of North Vancouver is contemplating its approach to renewal, replacement and provision of community recreational amenities.
The community recreation strategy will provide a transparent and consistent approach to prioritizing investment in community recreation.
The first phase strives to achieve the following:
- Highlight the wide ranging benefits of community recreation.
- Establish a vision and philosophical foundation for community recreation in the City.
- Map the current inventory of spaces and assets.
- Create a four step process to help prioritize significant community recreation projects in the City.
Future work will explore arts and culture and their benefits to community health and wellness.
The City at a Glance
The City of North Vancouver is one of Canada’s most vibrant communities. This is due not only to its unique natural surroundings but also due to its dynamic public spaces and available community recreational opportunities. The City of North Vancouver has a population of 52,520 (2016 census profile) and is located on the north shore of Burrard Inlet. The City is neighbours with the Squamish Nation, District of North Vancouver and District of West Vancouver. With its blend of modern urban amenities, natural landscapes and a vision to be the healthiest small city in the world, the City of North Vancouver is a desirable community in which to live.
Community Recreation in the City
In order to understand the importance and current status of community recreation, it is important to be aware of existing City planning efforts, broader recreational planning influences and the current service delivery system for community recreation.
Existing Local Planning
The City is developing and/or implementing a number of major strategies and plans that support and enhance the health and wellness of city residents including the following.
- Official Community Plan
- Wellbeing Strategy (in progress)
- Parks Master Plan
- Mobility Strategy
- Walk CNV
- Master Transportation Plan
- Safe Routes to School
- Cycling Network Plan
- Child, Youth and Family Strategy (CNV4Me)
- Dementia Friendly Strategy/Age Friendly City
- North Vancouver Recreation and Culture Commission Strategic Plan
- North Vancouver Recreation and Culture Commission Indoor Recreation
Facility Plan
In addition, Council’s Strategic Plan (2018-2022) sets the vision to be the “Healthiest Small City in the World,” and outlines priorities towards achieving Council’s vision as outlined below. Council’s Strategic Plan provides a solid foundation for community recreation planning.
Broader Planning Influences
When considering the future role of community recreation in the City it is important to understand and consider some broader planning influences relevant to community recreation. These influences come from within the recreation sector and beyond. At the foundation of community recreation is its direct and indirect benefit to residents throughout the City.
This section outlines the vision, principles and goals for community recreation in the City. These considerations, in conjunction with other strategic planning work, will help guide decisions on renewal, replacement and prioritization of significant community recreation amenities. The vision and principles are based on Council’s Strategic Plan and also share alignment with the Framework for Recreation in Canada.
Vision
Principles
The following principles explain how the City will approach decision making for, and provision of, community recreation.
Goals
The following goals articulate why the City invests in community recreation amenities and opportunities; they also explain the underlying intention for having publicly supported community recreation in the City. The community recreation goals are derived from the City’s Strategic Plan, broader planning influences (Social Determinants of Health, Benefits of Recreation and Framework for Recreation in Canada) and an understanding of the immense individual and community benefits derived from community recreation as a social good.
Community recreation in the City of North Vancouver is intended to:
Providing community recreation facilities and spaces is important but decisions related to updating and adding amenities can be difficult. The North Vancouver Recreation and Culture Commission has a mandate to make facility recommendations to the City (and District) and has done so through an Indoor Recreation Facility Plan. This Plan aims to support the City in contemplating future investment and effort related to new facility and space development.
The following steps outline the decision making process the City will use to determine potential facilities and spaces to offer, and how many of each. This involves evaluating how each type of facility or amenity contributes to the goals for community recreation, considers if we have the right amount and range and looks to prioritize amenities. Although the following approach is somewhat subjective, it does consider a variety of different indicators and criteria. It is important to note that further work will be required to consider where and when development occurs, and how complementary/compatible spaces or partnerships impact the sequencing of ranked amenities.
Step 1
The first step is for the City to determine whether or not consideration should proceed for new or enhanced community recreation facility or space. In order for an amenity to be considered, evidence must show significant contribution to meeting the goals for community recreation.
Step 2
The second step in making decisions about community recreation is determining if the City has the right range of amenities to meet the needs of residents. Looking at some demand indicators (listed below) the City will be able to determine whether there is a need for more, less or if there is the right amount of a certain type of facility or space. For a significant amenity to be considered further, evidence must be presented that an existing amenity should be enhanced or a new amenity pursued.
Although this step indicates whether more or less facilities or spaces are needed, there is still a requirement to analyze things further. For significant projects, a further examination of feasibility should be undertaken as part of this step to further inform a prioritization review and prior to major investment as part of Step 3 and 4.
Step 3
The third step in the decision making process is when an existing amenity is assessed as needing to be enhanced or a new amenity is contemplated. The following list of criteria can be used to prioritize amenities to help provide a ranked list. The list is meant to be a reference point to help allocate funds and establish a comparative timeline for the delivery of enhanced or new amenities.
Step 4
The last step in the process is to take action! Based on a summary of Step 1 and 2, and prioritization of Step 3, decisions will need to be made.
Going Forward
Successful implementation of this tool requires ongoing data collection. As new facilities are built, community preferences change, and use rates shift, the recommended amenity strategies / service levels and priority lists will change. The four step process should be revisited as new information becomes available. This four step process is like a cycle; it is never complete and requires ongoing upkeep to make sure the City is best meeting the community recreation needs of our residents and spending resources wisely. The goals for community recreation should also be reconfirmed with any future change with Council’s Strategic Plan.
It is important to note that although this tool provides rankings for different kinds of amenities that these rankings are still subject to refinement and further feasibility analysis. Some higher ranking amenities might not be developed or enhanced while some lower ranking amenities may be developed.