The Parks, Recreation and Culture Department has the COR Program that offers those within the low-income threshold a free pool pass and arena passes as well as a 50% subsidy on a variety of city-run recreation programs.
Community Connections administers the COR Program and gauges those whom would be eligible for the financial savings based on the eligibility criteria that is set between the two parties. Any person(s) who receives the benefit is re-assessed on an annual basis.
While this program is a great concept in nature, like many people, when criteria is based on ‘Before-Tax’ compared to ‘After-Tax’ it makes a big difference to the overall affordability of the purchase. Council approved the use of the After-Tax Low Income Measure (LIM) rather than the Before-Tax Low Income Cut Off (LICO) for a trial period of one year which began April 1st.
In a council report, Director of Parks, Recreation and Culture, Laurie Donato wrote “Prior to implementation of the LIM 135 individuals and/or families were registered with the COR program. The implementation resulted in an uptake of an additional 5 applications that would not have qualified to participate in the program if the program was based on the LICO.”
The COR Program was created to make the program accessible for a wider scope of low-income families and individuals in the community and emphasize a better quality of life. However, any major changes will draw some concern as to the financial impact it may or may not have.
Below is a comparison of program numbers from before and after.
There are currently 133 active passes in the COR Program to date.
