City Council on July 6, 7 and 8, 2010, adopted the following:

1.         City Council request the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation to review the Built Environment Standard, once the legislation has been enacted by the Government of Ontario, and determine the applicable components of the standards that apply to playground design.

2.         City Council request funding from the Government of Ontario to implement the City's strategy of making City playgrounds fully accessible.

3.         City Council request the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation to report, through the Parks and Environment Committee, on the feasibility of adopting the following strategy for moving Toronto playgrounds to full accessibility under the AODA regulations:

a.         full accessibility according to CSA and AODA standards will be built into all new playground installations on a go forward basis;

b.         Parks and Recreation staff be requested to conduct an internal informal audit of existing playgrounds to determine the extent to which they meet AODA regulations;

c.         Parks and Recreation staff be requested to organize playgrounds into priority groups to identify those most in need of retrofit; and

d.         once the provincial funding to assist with capital costs resulting from imposed AODA regulations is announced, the City will then determine which and how many playgrounds will be:

i.          subject to formal audit by an industry approved professional; and

ii.         how many playgrounds can be retrofitted with the funds that the province has provided.

 4.        City Council direct General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation to advance the program timetable based on the capital funding assistance that the Province provides.

The Parks and Environment Committee recommends that:

1.         upon legislation by the Government of Ontario, City Council request the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation to review the Built Environment Standard and determine the applicable components of the standards that apply to playground design.

2.         City Council request funding from the Government of Ontario to implement the City's strategy of making City playgrounds fully accessible.

The Parks and Environment Committee requested the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation to report to City Council, for its meeting on July 6, 2010, on the membership composition of the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Playground Equipment Committee.

The purpose of this report is to provide information on making existing City playgrounds fully accessible to the benefit of all.

The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), 2005 requires the province to be accessible by 2025 through the development of five mandatory accessibility standards.  One of the five standards to be developed, the Accessible Built Environment Standard, is expected to provide direction on new construction and extensive renovations.

Currently Parks, Forestry and Recreation (PF&R) has an inventory of over 850 playgrounds located in every park category city-wide and has limited resources to maintain these assets.  Although PF&R is already incorporating a number of accessible initiatives for new playgrounds and renovations to existing ones, PF&R will finalize a strategy based on the financial impact of retrofitting current playgrounds and constructing new ones when the new standards are announced.