Recreation Master Plan

The City of St. John’s has released its new Recreation Master Plan, a comprehensive framework designed to proactively manage the current and future provision of recreation facilities, spaces and programs. The recommendations and direction within the Recreation Master Plan will help prioritize investment in recreation infrastructure over the next decade.

The plan was discussed at the Committee of the Whole Meeting on Tuesday, February 4, 2025.

The plan builds on the successes of the previous Recreation Master Plan (2008-2018) and was developed through research and engagement, including resident surveys, community group surveys, community meetings and various engagement activities. It includes ten strategic recommendations supported by 37 tactical actions and three decision-making frameworks to guide implementation which are summarized below:

1. Inclusive Opportunities for All: Address barriers to participation for underrepresented groups (youth, seniors, Indigenous, low-income, New Canadians) by developing culturally relevant programs and ensuring spaces respect Indigenous culture.
2. Support Community-led Programs: Strengthen partnerships with volunteer-based groups, provide funding and training to enhance community initiatives, and collaborate with local organizations to increase youth sports participation.
3. Equitable Service Delivery: Review policies through an equity, diversity, and inclusion lens, and adopt new practices that reflect community needs in facility allocation and service delivery.
4. Geographic Balance in Services: Ensure recreation spaces are accessible in all neighborhoods by utilizing frameworks for new facilities, exploring temporary activations, and planning for future community spaces in underserved areas. This includes planning for a new community recreation space in the Ward 5 area.
5. Support Events for Community Benefits: Foster inclusion and a sense of belonging through community events, celebrate diverse cultures, and develop strategies to attract and leverage regional events.
6. High-Quality Recreation Spaces: Design multifunctional, accessible facilities that consider climate resilience and environmental sustainability. Maintain long-term service levels through a robust asset management policy.
7. Improve Connectivity for Active Transportation: Prioritize open spaces and recreational connectivity in city developments and enhance access to recreational assets through improved transportation infrastructure.
8. Integrate New Technologies: Use data collection to understand program utilization, improve decision-making, and develop more efficient systems for booking and managing recreation services.
9. Enhance Communication: Use diverse communication channels to inform the public about recreation opportunities, maintain transparency through feedback loops, and implement effective marketing campaigns.
10. Build Community Capacity: Support networking and capacity-building for local organizations for ongoing collaboration and feedback on recreation services.

The City has a strategic direction to be a Connected City where people feel connected, have a sense of belonging and are actively engaged in community life. Developing and delivering programs, services and public spaces that build safe, healthy and vibrant communities is key to advancing this direction.

At the Tuesday, June 25h, 2024 regular meeting of Council, staff shared What We Heard through the public engagement project.

Highlights of What We Heard include:

• Participants highly valued recreation services and expressed a desire for more neighbourhood-level facilities and services.

• Ensuring affordability should be a focus on future planning, along with enhancing accessibility and inclusive opportunities.

• The most popular indoor activities included swimming, walking, fitness training, and fitness classes.

• Outdoor activities favoured by participants included hiking/walking, gardening, and swimming.

• Participants believed working with community partners, including sport and recreation organizations, schools and educational institutions, and health and social organizations, was important.

• Inconvenient programming times, lack of information sharing and awareness, transportation and programs not being offered in desired neighborhoods were identified as barriers to participation.

Promotional efforts resulted in 1,670 visits to this project page. Participants could provide feedback and ask questions on the project page, participate in a meeting or pop-up event or take a survey. In total, over 1,700 people provided feedback through either surveys, the project page, email, phone, pop-up events or meetings. Representatives from community groups and City committees and working groups were also consulted.

The consultant will now draft the plan which will be brought to Council and shared with the public in the Fall.

Resident Survey Now Open

We need your input to help shape the future of recreation in St. John's. Gathering input from residents is critical to the development of the Recreation Master Plan, as your thoughts and opinions are essential to this project and setting future priorities for recreation services.

Please complete the resident survey through this link.

If you have any questions regarding this survey and the Recreation Master Plan or if you need assistance completing the survey, please contact Carla Squires (City Project Lead) at csquires@stjohns.ca or Meaghan Carey (Project Consultant) at carey@rcstrategies.ca or call 311. This document is available in alternate format upon request, including braille.