PRO Educational Forum Program

CIRA Ontario is a registered charity with a mission to encourage, promote and develop active living, healthy lifestyles, and personal growth through intramural and recreational programs. In this session, CIRA Executive member Kim Gilhespy will discuss how the organization has created an immensely successful team-building program. Through active challenges, participants learn to work together, rely on each other, and build community together. 

Presenter: Kim Gilhespy, CIRA

With the development of more courts, leagues, and programs, pickleball is quickly one of the fastest growing sports in North America. Join pickleball expert, Matt Cunningham to explore the past, present, and future of pickleball in Ontario. Matt will discuss pickleball site and facility selection, the health and leisure benefits of pickleball, and how we can better position Ontario to become the pickleball capital of Canada. 

Presenter: Matt Cunningham, Secretary, Pickleball Hamilton Association

Heather Davidson will share her 20 years of experience in recreation to discuss the historical and contemporary challenges with staffing in the sector. What has been a longstanding issue was exacerbated during the pandemic and with long-time recreation professionals retiring, a void needed to be filled. Learn about how the City of Hamilton revamped a 100-year-old program to engage a staff of Gen Z'ers and the impact of this next generation of recreation professionals on the sector. 

Presenter: Heather Davidson, Recreation Supervisor, Jenna Kempf, Katelyn Burns, City of Hamilton

Join Catherine Vincelli and Sheldon Dixon to explore strategies for designing recreation programs that engage diverse communities including how to introduce new content, develop program formats that address systemic barriers, and take a creative approach to partnerships. These strategies will be discussed in relation to a selection of programs offered by the City of Toronto including the Play Mobile Program, the Kiki Ballroom Programs, and the Drag Master Class, that have successfully engaged diverse participants from vulnerable communities.  

Presenters: Catherine Vincelli, Manager, Community Recreation, City of Toronto East York and Sheldon Dixon, Community Recreation Programmer, City of Toronto

Noticing a decline in registration numbers for inclusive camps alongside an increase in demand for mainstream programs, the City of Ottawa took steps to create a single inclusive system that would allow all children to participate in camp programs equally. In this session, learn about how the City managed this transition and has grown this program’s success.  

Presenter: Serena Bebee, Portfolio Coordinator, City of Ottawa, Jodie Gilvear, Portfolio Coordinator Inclusive Recreation

The pandemic necessitated a rapid transformation of the City of Toronto’s digital channels in order to communicate with residents and deliver services effectively. Join Howie Dayton and Daniel Fusca for a session on how the City was able to improve customer experience for accessing parks and recreation services but also for public engagement on capital project development. The session will include an interactive component and a demonstration of Thought Exchange. 

Presenters: Howie Dayton, Director of Recreation, and Daniel Fusca, Manager Public Engagement for of Parks, Forestry, and Recreation, City of Toronto

Barefoot paths are a popular European trend making waves in the Canadian recreation sector. Through a presentation and a feet-on workshop, delegates will explore the various types of barefoot paths and variations. Barefoot paths offer a unique way to engage with the outdoors, provide a cognitive and sensory experience, and are an affordable way to drive tourism and enhance green space. Come learn about the potential of barefoot paths in your community! 

Presenter: Manuel Spiller, University of Guelph and 1 Bench 1 Tree

In 2022, the Town of Collingwood finished the redevelopment of Enviropark Playground, an inclusive and accessible feature of a much beloved community park. In this session, learn about the innovative approach taken to public consultation which resulted in a playground that incorporates elements such as passive, creative, sensorial, and active play to allow for play equity for all levels of ability.  

Presenters: David Wood, President, Envision Tatham and Dean Collver, Director of Parks, Recreation, and Culture, Town of Collingwood

In this session, Anita Comella of Tennis Canada will discuss the innovative approach Tennis Canada is taking towards partnerships to build year-round, affordable access to tennis infrastructure. Anita will present Tennis Canada's Municipal Tennis Facilities Strategy and Partnership Framework. This framework, developed with extensive research and data collection, outlines flexible partnership models for municipalities to develop year-round tennis facilities. 

Presenter: Anita Comella, Senior Director - Facilities Development, Tennis Canada 

Programming in a post-COVID world can be challenging. In this session, early childhood educator and nature interpreter, Angel Suarez Esquivel, will discuss post-COVID recreation programming focusing on accessibility, youth engagement, and maintaining community connection. Angel will explore how to build community through recreation, encourage curiosity among youth, and adapt programming for participants with disabilities and those from marginalized communities. 

Presenter: Angel Suarez Esquivel, Senior Nature Interpreter, Mia Maceasik, Senior Nature Interpreter: Student and Community Engagement Specialist, The Humber Arboretum and Centre for Urban Ecology

Over the last three years, the parks and recreation sector has seen significant changes in how it operates. Regulatory requirements through the pandemic, public willingness to participate in programming, and legislative developments such as Bill 23 have shifted focus from solely brick and mortar programming in community centres to animating public spaces. Join Natalie Brown, the Director of Programs from Park People and Amanda O’Rourke, Executive Director of 8-80 Cities in a panel discussion moderated by Pari Rajagopalan, Director of Policy and Partnerships on best practices in placemaking, community engagement, and partnership building.

Panelists: Natalie Brown, Director of Programs, Park People, Amanda O'Rourke, Executive Director, 8 80 Cities, Pari Rajagopalan, Director, Policy and Partnerships, Parks and Recreation Ontario

Capital project planning can be a long difficult road fraught with many hazards. In this session, Troy Sykes and Todd Reichardt demonstrate how The City of Medicine Hat and Xyst Canada Ltd. created a capital lifecycle process tool that prioritizes and aligns capital projects with a customer level of service model unique to their citizens. Learn techniques that will enable your agency to select and prioritize capital projects using quantitative factors important to your stakeholders such as risk, operational expenditures, user demand, diversity, social value, and inclusion. We’ll demonstrate how to effectively communicate levels of service to stakeholders that provide value and rationalize investments for the long-term benefit of your community.  

Presenters: Troy Sykes and Todd Reichardt, Directors, Xyst Canada

Older adults have unique needs in recreation settings. In this session, Steve Di Ciacca of the CCAA will share a series of evidence-based learning tools and courses recently developed for fitness and recreation leaders and health professionals. Learn about how to design effective exercise programs for seniors in a variety of settings and upskill your program leaders to ensure they can deliver these programs safely. 

Presenter: Steve Di Ciacca, Program Manager, Canadian Centre for Activity and Aging (CCAA)

Recreation is a dynamic sector that has evolved to meet the increasing demand for adaptive and inclusive programming, often with limited resources. Working with accessibility and inclusion experts, community partners, and participants, the City of London has created a plan to address the gaps in the delivery of inclusive programming. Join this session to learn about how to effectively provide equitable recreation opportunities and connect with other delegates to share best practices and ideas on how to further advance inclusive recreation. 

Presenters: Joannah Campbell and Francesca Gable, Recreation Supervisors, City of London

A youth friendly community supports young people by giving them opportunities to participate in activities, volunteer, and engage in substantive ways. In this session, join Ryan Lo, co-founder of Urban Minds for unique ideas on how to better connect with youth and engage them in the development of youth friendly spaces, programs, and services. Urban Minds is a non-profit organization with a mission to create meaningful ways for youth to shape their communities.

Presenter: Ryan Lo, Co-Founder, Urban Minds

Individual health is often tied closely to community health. Co-participation is a unique method of delivering community sport and alleviating barriers to participation for families. It has a number positive outcomes such as parent-child role modeling, improved physical and mental health, and increased social connectedness. This session will outline key outcomes of a co-participation swim program for mothers and daughters in the Township of Woolwich, Ontario and explore coaching perspectives, techniques, and program components that can support the implementation of co-participation programs for parents and children. 

Presenters: Katie Misener, Associate Professor, Department of Recreation and Leisure, University of Waterloo, Erin Schmidt,  Active Together Family Sports

Mindfulness experts Heidi and Angela will present this workshop on practicing mindfulness during challenging times. Learn how to stabilize your attention, regulate your emotions, and maintain awareness in the moment. These useful strategies, such as mindful movement, breath and sound awareness, and creative visualization, promote good decision making, healthy relationships, and emotional well-being. The tactics learned in this session can be employed by individuals of any age and ability.

Presenters: Heidi Bornstein, Executive Director and Angela Ventrice, Facilitator Associate, Mindfulness Everyday

A positive workplace culture can have a significant impact on staff recruitment and retention. Join this session to explore fun and enjoyable things you can do to create a positive workplace culture. Learn about the defining qualities of high-performance teams and the essential tools that can help encourage team growth including conflict resolution and performance evaluation. Delegates will also deepen their understanding of team-building dynamics, effective communication, and motivational tactics. Get ready to play, laugh, and learn in this dynamic session that will leave you with an enhanced human resources toolkit!

Presenter: Anthony De Laurentis, Supervisor of Community Recreation, City of Toronto

Creating opportunities for transparent, inclusive, and responsive community engagement that are integrated into design processes results in public spaces that are truly reflective of the communities they serve. In this session, learn about the significance of substantive engagement and how projects are made more successful when they are informed by individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, stories, self-expression, unique capabilities, and talents of a truly inclusive team. Join experts from MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects as they use case studies to demonstrate how this approach to public engagement has positive outcomes for communities.  

Presenters: Jeanne Ng, Principal, Melanie Taylor, Associate, and Timothy Belanger, Partner, MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects (MJMA)

In this session, marketing specialist, Marcia Vona talks about the approach taken by the City of Richmond Hill to encourage its residents to return to recreation after the successive lockdowns of the early pandemic. The city looked at shifting behaviour trends in residents during the pandemic to inform unique promotion campaigns that emphasized recreation programs and services as a healthy, safe social outlet for individuals of all ages. 

Presenter: Marcia Vona, Marketing, Events, Recreation, and Culture Services, City of Richmond Hill

In this session, Scott and Els will discuss the future of green energy and aquatic facilities in Ontario. This presentation will explore the growing expectation among aquatics providers for reduced energy loss and a better water experience, and how we can optimize aquatics facilities to align with the green energy future.

Presenters: Scott Bowron, President, Clear Aquatics and Els Vanbeckevoort, CEO & Founder, SanEcoTec

No Hassle Teambuilding: Material-Free Activities for the Workplace (Show Details)

In this session, supervisor of Community Recreation at the City of Toronto, Anthony De Laurentis, will share several newly developed activities and games for teambuilding that involve no physical materials. These activities encourage communication and problem-solving and can be used as icebreakers and in training sessions to engage staff and build a stronger team.

In this session, Dr. Martha Barnes and Dr. Julie Stevens from Brock University's Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies and Department of Sport Management will discuss Geofencing, which is the use of mobile analytics data to track the use of parks and indoor or outdoor recreation spaces. Dr. Barnes and Dr. Stevens will share their Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games project and the use of Geofencing as a data collection method, as well as discuss the potential ethical implications of Geofencing. 

Presenters: Dr. Martha Barnes and Dr. Julie Stevens, Brock University

Busch Systems has been delivering recycling and waste solutions for almost 40 years and is the #1 rated brand in the industry according to Trustpilot! We’re a passion-driven group of people who design and customize recycling and waste solutions for different collection programs across various industries. Our mission is to support everyone who cares about waste diversion with leading edge products and services that maximize the quantity and quality of their recycling program.

Presenters: Rae-Ann Dos Reis, Busch Systems

Robert, Tarisha and Gary will discuss designing and building public recreation spaces in uncertain times. How have the needs of communities changed in the last few years, and how can the design and building of recreation facilities respond to those conditions? This session will focus on three lenses for discussion: sustainability and resilience, societal and demographic shifts, and market conditions. 

Presenters: Robert Allen and Tarisha Dolyniuk, Partners, MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects (MJMA) and Gary Sanger, Supervisor Community recreation, City of Toronto

In this session, Scott O'Donnell will discuss how data can serve the municipal recreation sector. Data is one of the most valuable assets to an organization and can vastly increase the potential of any organization if harnessed correctly. Come learn what data municipalities have access to and how to utilize these numbers to serve your recreation department better. 

Presenters: Darryl McWilliam, Manager - Support Services, and Scott O’Donnell, Supervisor, Town of Oakville 

Understanding equity in practice. Engaging in conversations around common language and terms aligned with anti-oppression, anti-racism and inclusion. Uncovering our own motivations to incite positive actions through each of our own avenues of access.

Presenters: Parul Pandya, Community Impact Consulting

Starting a conversation with your teams regarding Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) is the most important step when trying to address DEI issues within an organization and shift to a culture of inclusivity. However, it’s more than a simple conversation and requires thoughtfulness and care. Senior leaders from the City of Mississauga will share learnings from their ongoing EDI journey. 

Presenters: Uzma Shakir, Strategic Leader – Diversity & Inclusion, Lisa Boyce-Gonsalves, Manager – Program Delivery, and Kristina Zietsma, Director of Recreation, City of Mississauga

How do we plan and design parks and open spaces for community centres that house a variety of indoor spaces in distinct social, urban, environmental and cultural contexts? How do we work with multiple stakeholders and communities of unique needs? Join this session to unpack in detail the approaches and processes of park and open space design by reviewing diverse parks and open spaces projects associated with community facilities. We will describe the opportunities and challenges that are unique to these spaces.  

Presenter: Hyaeinn Lee, Senior Associate and Landscape Architecture Lead, Maclennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects (MJMA) 

The Mixed Ability model presents a fundamental change to existing community programs by creating opportunities for all members of the community, regardless of age, ability, background, gender identity, or experience to participate in mainstream activity settings as equal and valued members. This presentation will introduce how taking a Universal Design approach to program offerings and co-developing your program framework with those with lived experience can redefine the way we think of, join in, and participate in physical activity and enable everyone to develop a sense of belonging within the community.

Presenters: Adam Fitzpatrick (he/him), Manager, Therapeutic Recreation, and Kelly Kasper (she/her), Director, Sport & Recreation, Abilities Centre