Ontario
Population: 233 222¹
- Kitchener has the second highest percentage of natural parkland as a percentage of total parkland at 75%.
- Kitchener is more than double the average of parkland that is protected as environmentally sensitive areas at 67%.
- Kitchener is one of 72% of cities that has a climate change action plan that includes parks.
- Kitchener opened RBJ Schlegel Park in 2020, which uses innovative stormwater management designs to improve its climate resilience, including the capacity to hold more than a 200-year flood event onsite and reusing water from the splash pad for irrigation.
- Kitchener established a new Building Parks Together volunteer role, which is a citywide task force of volunteers to help provide insight and guidance on park strategies and development, including new policies developed in 2021 and 2022.
- During the pandemic in summer 2020, Kitchener repurposed sports fields as informal recreational space to allow more places for people to hang out.
7.3
ha parkland per 1000 people
1704 ha of total parkland
75%
of total parkland is natural area
1274 total ha
67%
of parkland is environmentally significant/protected
1149 total ha
12%
of total city land is parkland
14,020 ha of total city area
4
dog parks
14
2Community gardens/urban farms
Mixed
3Parkland provision goal (distance to park / ha per 1000 people)
1.5 ha per 1,000 people; Play area within 500m of every resident
1.3
volunteers / 1000 people
300 total
2
community park groups
No
4Policy to waive permit fees for groups with financial need?
$57
5Parks operating budget per person
$13,200,216 total
$17,009,176
6Total parks capital budget
$200,000
Total philanthropy/sponsorships
5%
Provincially legislated tools available for parkland dedication, acquisition and/or development
Municipalities are able to require up to 5% of the land area of a residential development for parkland or, through an alternate rate bylaw, one hectare in land per 300 units or the equivalent in cash-in-lieu of one hectare per 500 units. Municipalities are also able to require 2% of commercial or non-residential development for parkland or the equivalent in cash-in-lieu. Municipalities may also fund eligible parks improvements through Development Charges and may choose to collect funding for parkland through a Community Benefits Charge, but overlap between these tools must be avoided.
¹2016 data ²There are an additional 21 community gardens not on city-owned lands, bringing the total to 35. ³Target applies only to Neighbourhood parks, and not other park types (e.g. City, District, Green, etc). By contrast, the city's current provision rate of 7.3ha per 1000 people reflects all parks and open spaces, natural areas, environmental lands, trails and trail corridors. ⁴Permit fees only apply to sportsfield use. ⁵2020 actuals. Does not include splash pad budget. ⁶Amount may be greater than the typical year due to projects either deferred or delayed by COVID-19 and carried over from 2020.
