Families Impacted by Low Income

Programs and facilities that allow families to participate in activities together are especially appreciated by families impacted by low income, as they allow parents to be active with their children, highlighting fitness centres and gyms that offer family classes and packages.

The challenges families impacted by low income face often intersect with other issues raised in the report, such as overwhelming eligibility forms, funding and subsidy sources, inflexible activity schedules, and a lack of diversity in offered programs.

Families impacted by low income also often face other issues such as transportation, lack of childcare, and funding or subsidies that don’t pay for the programs or the required gear, among other challenges.

They recommend focused physical activity times for teens and older youth, family gym nights so they can also participate in physical activity with their children, and flexible program and facility hours to accommodate different schedules.

The recommendations highlight the opportunities where sport and recreation leaders can support families impacted by low income in their active living journey.

The Recommendations:

• Foster better information access. Create a centralized accessible information hub for available programs and supports. Also, more support should be given to newcomers to help them access information about activities and support from government, schools, and other nonprofit and private organizations.
• Create separate access for teens and youth. Separate or reserve community centre gym times for youth/teens with coaches and mentors on site to help them learn the machines and design workouts.
• Support lone parents to exercise independently as well. Host single-parent gym nights so lone parents can meet and mingle without rejection or stigma – try not to lump all the “different families” into one event.
• Create easier subsidy applications in the following ways:
  • Automatic enrolment for Leisure Access Passes based on taxes, CRA, or Canada Child Tax amounts, which reduces the constant need to apply with longer-term passes.
  • Ability to apply the Student Affordability Fund available through schools to physical activities and costs for low-income families. Participants clarified that school supplies and sometimes food are available for low-income families through this fund – why not physical activities too?
• Expand eligibility criteria that includes residency status. All children should be eligible for activity programming regardless of their Canadian residency status.
• Support open family gym nights. Families impacted by low-income recommended open family gym nights so that their family, along with other families, can play and be active together.
• Create more sensory-friendly spaces and activities. Families recommended creating standard best practices for all recreational facilities regarding low-sensory swim and skating times and other measures to provide unique access times for neurodiverse children and youth. They also recommended that school programs should use physical activity to treat ADHD – particularly by using martial arts for concentration.
• Offer diverse of physical activity options that reflect community strengths and interests. Some ideas recommended by families impacted by low income include:
  • Programming should consider older teenagers aged 14 and up, as they have unique social and physical activity needs. This includes increasing physical activity options beyond costly team sports.
  • Schools should expand their options for physical activity, as children and youth are already there, don’t need to travel, it’s safe and accessible, and peers and friends can participate easily together.
  • Casual public access to sports in public areas in the summer, such as “pick up” volleyball at the beach and basketball.
  • Neighbourhood houses and community centres should not focus solely on “scheduled” sign-up classes but reserve time for free play and sport drop-ins.
• Make recreational hours more flexible and responsive to diverse schedules. Expanded operating facility hours should include evenings and weekends.
• Provide free or accessible equipment to reduce cost barriers. Equipment access is a core part of program delivery and support for those who cannot afford to buy their own should be available.
• Foster mentorship and youth leadership in physical activity programs. Positive role models and mentors are key in physical activity programming to combat isolation for at-risk, low-income children, youth, and whole families.
• Household structure should be taken into consideration when applying for activity subsidies. Provide targeted financial support for lone-parent families.

Read the full report here.

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