The City of Humboldt is taking a new approach to increasing access to recreational opportunities for underserved residents, following a decision by the City Council at the recent Executive Committee meeting on Monday.
Council approved a motion directing the administration to develop a Leisure Access Grant Program that would replace the current program. The initiative aims to partner with local social service organizations to better reach residents who face financial or other barriers to participating in leisure activities.
The proposed program will enter a pilot phase, during which city administration will monitor participation rates, fiscal sustainability, and client satisfaction. The findings will help determine whether the program should be refined or fully adopted on a long-term basis.
Under the current leisure access program, eligibility is based solely on the low-income cutoff as defined by Statistics Canada. Leisure Services Director Mike Ulriksen explained that this system, while straightforward, is no longer effectively serving the community.
“Currently, we have a leisure access program that’s been in place for several years now,” said Ulriksen. “It operates through a verification process managed by the city and is based purely on the low-income cutoff threshold. While it worked well initially, we’ve seen a decline in successful applicants in recent years.”
Ulriksen noted that the rigid income threshold fails to consider other factors that may prevent people from accessing city facilities, such as temporary financial hardship or other socio-economic challenges. He emphasized that local service providers like the Humboldt Housing Authority, Humboldt and District Community Services, Partner Family Service and the Humboldt Regional Newcomer Centre are better positioned to identify and support individuals in need.
“These organizations know their clients much better than we do,” Ulriksen added. “We're recommending that instead of vetting applications ourselves, we provide in-kind grants—in the form of leisure passes—to these community partners, who will then distribute them based on their knowledge of who needs them most.”
The leisure access passes would grant recipients free access to a wide range of city-run recreation programs and facilities.
“The passes include access to public swim, lane swim, aqua-size classes, our fitness room, adult drop-in sports, and public on-ice shinny,” Ulriksen said. “Public skating is already free, so it’s not part of the package currently.”
Ulriksen reassured the Council that any revenue loss would be negligible.
“I would assume the intention is to identify clients who aren’t currently paying to use our facilities, so I don’t anticipate much, if any, revenue drop,” he explained. “The main cost to the city would be from increased usage—things like more showers or minor wear and tear—but overall, the additional cost should be minimal.”
Councillor Dave Rowe praised the direction of the program, especially for its efforts to reduce stigma and include underserved demographics.
“It’s important to include groups like semi-independent adults—people who still benefit greatly from movement and physical activity.”
With the Council’s endorsement, the city administration will now begin formalizing partnership agreements with interested social service organizations.
Ulriksen concluded, “The original intent of this program was to help those who couldn’t afford to access recreation. We believe this new model is a much more effective way to meet that goal.”