Future-Proofing Parks & Recreation: An Actionable Strategy for Post Bill 23 Planning

How We Got There

The Challenge

The municipality was experiencing rapid population growth, shifting demographics, and a rising demand for sport fields, courts, and parkland. Legislative reforms had significantly reduced access to traditional funding streams like development charges and parkland dedication. With pressure mounting on existing facilities and public spaces, a refreshed, objectives-based addendum to the 2018 Parks and Recreation Master Plan was needed to chart a path forward. This plan would need to deliver equitable, financially sustainable services in the face of reduced revenue and growing community expectations.

The Solution

Optimus SBR conducted a comprehensive, multi-faceted engagement and analysis process to equip the municipality with two complementary deliverables.

1. Parks and Recreation Master Plan Addendum

This updated policy framework embedded Bill 23’s requirements for parkland dedication, constrained lands, and annual reserve spending. It refined service-level targets, set a 500-metre walkability benchmark, and identified alternative funding tools such as grants, user fees, asset divestment, and public-private partnerships. Equity was placed at the forefront, with targeted strategies for underserved neighbourhoods.

2. Sports Fields and Courts Provision Strategy

This 25-year vision and 5-year tactical plan addressed both immediate and long-term facility needs. Recommendations included developing a multi-sport indoor turf facility and new community centre, retrofitting underused gyms for seasonal flexibility, reconfiguring ball diamonds for multi-age use, and implementing smart sensors and user surveys to capture real-time usage data.

The solution was grounded in an integrated approach to equip the municipality with a practical implementation roadmap. Cross-departmental engagement brought together perspectives from finance, planning, legal, housing, and engineering teams, building a shared understanding of challenges and opportunities to align policy and operations. Community input through surveys, user group roundtables, and public consultations ensured that recommendations reflected lived experiences and local priorities. Comparator benchmarking against peer municipalities helped identify emerging practices such as Privately Owned Public Spaces, high-rise parks, and walkability metrics, all of which were adapted into localized recommendations.

The Results

Through a data-driven, inclusive, and strategic approach, the city now has a refreshed and practical roadmap to meet both immediate recreational needs and long-term planning obligations.

The roadmap improved service equity, expanding access to green and recreational spaces by identifying underserved areas and targeting park and facility investments where no community park was within a 500m walk.

Financial sustainability was strengthened by embedding diversified funding strategies to offset lost revenues from legislative changes, including grants, partnerships, user fees, and asset optimization. Infrastructure planning was modernized through a facility prioritization framework linking investment decisions to demand forecasts, asset condition, and equitable service distribution, ensuring resources are allocated effectively. Additionally, innovative monitoring tools such as smart sensors and user surveys now deliver real-time data for scheduling, maintenance, and capital planning to support agile decision-making.

Collectively, these efforts have positioned the municipality as a leader in adopting innovative parkland and recreation strategies suited for a post-Bill 23 environment, incorporating emerging strategies such as Privately Owned Public Spaces, high-rise parks, and equity-focused walkability standards. This integrated solution ensures that residents will continue to benefit from accessible, high-quality parks and recreation space while offering a replicable model for other municipalities facing similar legislative, demographic, and fiscal pressures.