Toronto’s parks, recreation facilities and natural spaces are places where Torontonians come together to build community and play, celebrate and explore. In Parks, Forestry & Recreation Division’s role as stewards of these spaces, we contribute to the city’s social and environmental resilience by ensuring that our parks, playing fields, recreation centres, ice rinks and pools, along with tree-lined streets, trails, forests, meadows, marshes, and ravines, are beautiful, safe and accessible, that they expand and adapt to meet the needs of a growing city, and are filled with vibrant, active, and engaged communities.
Howie Dayton (A)
Delivers business led transformation, leveraging technology to evolve and create solutions in collaboration with corporate partners, and the development and support of divisional software for branch operations.
Manages and supports the Division’s infrastructure to ensure that it meets the needs of diverse communities. Works with divisional partners to plan, design and develop facilities and green spaces from initial concept to construction completion.
Delivers and modernizes front-line client services, develops non-program revenue streams through management of third party agreements and partnerships, and consolidates Parks, Forestry and Recreation’s digital and print communication tools.
Delivers high-quality community recreation programs and services for all ages, with a focus on children and youth. Advocates for the benefits of recreation and strives to ensure all Toronto residents have positive recreational experiences that enhance quality of life and contribute to lifelong active living.
Manages key corporate functions including finance, accounting, human resources, labour relations, and customer service, provides oversight on policy and bylaw compliance and delivers project management and support on divisional initiatives.
Maintains and manages Toronto’s parkland and ravines including more than 1,500 parks, 8,000 hectares of land, small neighbourhood parks and large, destination parks like High Park and Toronto Island Park.
Responsible for long-range planning, including the City’s Parkland Strategy and Parks and Recreation Facilities Master Plan, local parks plans, park-specific master plans, parkland acquisition, development review and the divisional response to transit projects.
Provides strategic policy development, data analytics and performance metrics and research. Supports the Division to deliver on its services and priorities, drive evidence-based decision-making, and evaluate outcomes and performance to drive continuous improvement.
Maintains and manages Toronto’s vibrant urban forest of 11.5 million trees. Strives to create a healthy, growing and resilient urban forest and ravine system and operates under four key principles: maintain, protect, plant, plan.