Most Vancouver rec facilities in ‘poor or very poor’ condition, auditor’s report finds

Vancouver's community centres, pools and ice rinks are used by hundreds of thousands of people annually, but a new report finds most are in poor shape.

It’s no secret that many community centres in Vancouver are showing their age, but residents may be surprised to learn just what condition many of them are actually in.

A new report from the city’s auditor general lays out the scope of the problem.

It says just 28 per cent of recreation facilities were in “good or fair condition,” and 72 per cent of facilities were categorized as “poor or very poor.”

One very high-profile example is the Vancouver Aquatic Centre, where a portion of an exterior wall collapsed in 2022.

The building first opened to the public in 1974.

“I think anybody who’s looked at our recreation facilities is not going to be surprised to see that they’re in poor condition,” said Park Board Commissioner Laura Christensen.

“I think what is really surprising in this report is the numbers that are in it, in terms of how much of a deficit we have in our facilities.”

The audit looked at 46 community centres, pools and ice rinks – and found they collectively face a funding deficit of $33 million per year.

“We’re talking about, you know, instead of building new facilities for growth, we’re going to be having to look at closing facilities because we don’t have the money to maintain them,” Christensen said.

The report points out the city does not have a comprehensive asset management framework, and recommends it come up with one.

The Park Board has oversight of the facilities, but maintenance is a shared responsibility between the board and the city.

“I think we need to tighten some of that up and have a better form of communication between Park Board staff, real estate facilities management,” said Green Party Coun. Pete Fry.

“It may even be that it should go back 100 per cent to Park Board and staff managing their own facilities.”

Overall, the city faces an infrastructure deficit of $500 million so the recreational facilities are just one small part of a much larger problem.