As baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) move through our system, we
continue to have an ongoing and variable impact on priorities for recreation
service delivery, both on government and the
private sector
The baby boomers will impact all
communities in ways yet to be
predicted as they age, continue to
work or retire, and live longer than the generation before them.
The delivery of public recreation in Canada has always been shaped by the
baby boomer generation and their
families by directing programs and service delivery to children, youth
and adults. These
baby boomer-led families
have influenced everything in North American
culture from television programming to the rise of fast food. In the 1970s
and 80’s, many communities became focused on building schools
and providing programs for youth. Some municipalities supported the creation of
stand-alone recreation facilities, purpose-built for seniors.
This was likely a reaction to the focus public recreation services placed
on children and parent/adult programming. Seniors were likely feeling left out
of recreation service provisions and, as a result, advocated for their own
spaces and facility operating models, ensuring their voices were heard and
their recreation needs met. The focus of recreation in seniors’ centres was on
socializing and tapping into the collective wisdom and talent of retired
seniors while at the same time providing low-cost programs for seniors on fixed
incomes. Examples of these stand-alone centres include Oak Bay’s Monterey Recreation Centre which
opened in 1971, Delta’s Kennedy Seniors Recreation Centre in 1974, Coquitlam’s
Dogwood Pavilion in 1977, and Vancouver’s Kerrisdale
Community Centre, with the seniors’ wing, which opened in 1986.
Over the past
few years, many
municipalities have started
to shift beyond
this stand-alone facility model
to an integrated facility model,
keeping on trend with the changing patterns of
recreation participation in older adults and seniors and optimizing the use of civic facilities.
Just as working with children and youth has been a dominant function of municipal recreation services to date, the focus moving forward will shift to an increased importance
placed on older adults and seniors. Fortunately,
due in large part to changes
in social policy at the provincial and federal levels, fewer seniors are
living in poverty today than
10 years ago. Advancing the value of recreation
participation as an instrumental and
enjoyable component of daily living
to reduce health care costs has become a major driver of
provincial health authorities.
