Those suburban (non-Toronto) locations all run their community recreation programs on a
full cost-recovery model... which enables them to have more capacity -- and longer hours.
Toronto PFR is mandated by Council to run on a
subsidy-for-all model, which means that the only way to manage cost(s) is to restrict the supply and service hours.
Toronto PFR cluster-fudge was the first civic-issue that I personally engaged at City Council on waaaaay back in 2011 (Yikes!), and nothing has substantially changed in their funding models and priorities over the last DOZEN years.
The system is almost perfectly-designed to
constrain recreation capacity -
'You can't get a babysitter for $3.12 an hour'
www.theglobeandmail.com
While I don't like the City model, as is often the case, I go towards the Scandinavian models; and the old City of Toronto model, which was no fees for anyone.
A former City of Toronto Parks Commissioner once noted that the cost of collecting the money, and fees handling wiped out a good chunk of the fee revenue, and the rest disappeared the moment you offered targeted concessions by age or income.
No debit terminal, no credit terminal, no cash-handling, no discounts/concessions of most programs would be vastly more efficient.
It should be noted, gross Recreation User Fees in Toronto are a mere 73M + 46M (Community centres + parks) in the 2023 budget; out of 16B in spending or less than 0.9%
That said, if we retained fees, I would prefer that we ditch seniors discounts, make everything free for those 17 and under and then target to make select programs free for everyone, outdoor swimming, learn to swim, learn to skate, learn to bike, first aid/CPR.
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On the subject of hours, I don't think we even need more funding, let me explain.
1) I've been told by any number of private swim programs that is huge latent demand for more pool time on weekends if facilities were open later, that time would be fee-paid under the current model.
2) The City keeps building new Recreation Centres at 100M+ on the basis of meeting demand, while existing centres remain closed on Saturday and Sunday late afternoons and evenings for most part.
I know staff inside PF&R who have agreed that if even one recreation centre were cancelled it would fund expanded weekend hours at 1/2 the locations in the City for years.
We're talking about 1M per year per facility to add those hours, if life guards are required, and 1/2 that if they are not.
Edit to Add: I decide to take a quick look at the number of 'Community Centres' per capita an compare Toronto to the surrounding area.
Many areas, including Toronto group arenas, 'club houses' and seniors centres under this heading, I excluded those.
I included only City-owned pool, community centre, recreation centre in my calculations.
Brampton and Mississauga range from 1.75 to 2.3 community centres per 100,000 residents
Toronto is ~ 3.7, or no less than 60% higher.
Generally, each facility carries it own manager, and a bare minimum of 2 staff to operate at all times (manager on duty/janitor); though many would have program staff, and security.
Where I see this as a real issue is in an area similar to Stan Wadlow Park; where there is an Arena, a separate Clubhouse facility, a Separate outdoor pool (seasonal); and then an indoor pool w/limited hours in the nearby middle school, as well as the Curling Club.
If you cut the minimum number of managers on duty from 3 to 1 in the winter (4 on days the pool operates) that would strike me as enough to fund significant hours expansion.
www.toronto.ca
