National Recreation Framework
Canadian Parks and Recreation Association
What is the National Recreation Framework?
The development of a National Recreation Framework (NRF) is a co-led initiative by the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association (CPRA) and provincial and territorial governments.
The NRF will provide a new vision for recreation and suggest some common ways of thinking about the renewal of recreation based on clear goals and underlying values and principles. The Framework will invite leaders, practitioners and stakeholders in a variety of sectors to collaborate in pursuit of common priorities, while respecting the uniqueness of individuals and communities across Canada.
The NRF has been developed with the full support and partnership of the provincial and territorial governments.
What has the process been to date?
The NRF conversation began in October 2011, with a National Summit in Alberta that allowed for a rich opening dialogue with recreation and parks leaders, practitioners, professionals, academics and government officials.
This was followed by a National Roundtable in New Brunswick in May 2013 that began to refine the content and structure of the NRF.
Throughout the process, ongoing and meaningful consultations took place in every province and territory and these conversations continue.
A formal Working Group for the NRF has been steering the process and will continue to do so. This Working Group includes members from across Canada including government officials, academics and sector representatives.
Next Steps
Since the New Brunswick Roundtable, the Working Group has been diligently moving the process forward. The Working Group has nearly completed a draft of the NRF that will be shared with the parks and recreation sector and interested stakeholders to confirm support and initiate a ‘call to action’ towards implementation.
At the end of March, the draft Framework and corresponding consultation tools will be provided by the Working Group to the parks and recreation associations in each province/territory as well as the regional government officials. In April and May, together the sector and government in each region will lead a dialogue to build consensus and reflect on how individuals and communities can contribute to implementation.
A select number of national webinars will also be held in April and May where this same dialogue will be facilitated among national organizations with a linkage and interest to the Framework.
The Working Group will then review feedback from the regional consultations and the national webinars and prepare for a National Summit to be held in November of 2014 in Toronto, Ontario. This will allow the sector to come together to refine and build support for the Framework while calling all participants to action as it relates to implementation. The Working Group will then refine the Framework based on feedback from the Summit. At the February of 2015 FPT Ministerial meeting, a final Framework will be presented for endorsement.
As the NRF has been developed, careful consideration has been given to the Canadian Sport Policy and Active Canada 20/20 and other complementary strategies to ensure that the sectors are collaborating efforts and agendas where appropriate.
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