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Recreation and leisure professionals provide healthy, well-rounded lifestyle opportunities for community members to connect, play, and grow. Helping people of all ages to engage in recreation and leisure programs and events is at the heart of a career in the recreation and leisure field. This program will provide you with the skills and experience needed to start your career in government, non-profit or commercial recreation organizations. You will experience an interesting blend of hands on management training and program and event planning, implementation and evaluation, while learning how to use industry-standard record management software.
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To help students succeed in programs with remote learning requirements, Durham College’s IT Services department has identified minimum technology recommendations. While these are not program requirements, these suggestions will help ensure students have the right tools to support a quality remote learning experience.
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This popular program provides students with the leadership skills and training required to strategically plan, implement, evaluate and manage programs for community members of all ages and abilities, prepare budgets, raise funds, manage staff, and market activities with teams of volunteers and other recreation and leisure service providers.
As a graduate, you can pursue an exciting and rewarding career offering recreation programs to community members of all ages and abilities. As such, you will study:
You will have the opportunity to obtain HIGH FIVE certifications in Principles of Healthy Child Development (PHCD), Principles of Healthy Aging and Quality Experience Scanning Tool 2 (QUEST 2) from Parks and Recreation Ontario, as well as other workshops and certifications embedded within the program. In addition, you will learn about various types of recreation management software used extensively in the Canadian recreation industry. Students also receive Parks and Recreation Ontario and Therapeutic Recreation Ontario memberships.
First-year students enrolled in a diploma program or select graduate certificate program through the Faculty of Business will receive a membership to all eight of Durham Region’s Chambers of Commerce and Boards of Trade for the duration of their studies, plus an additional year following graduation. As one of the only colleges in Ontario with this offering, DC is proud to provide students access to local businesses at a regional level.
The eight Chambers of Commerce and Boards of Trade include:
Membership benefits:
The courses listed below are for incoming students. If you are a current student, please refer to your program of study for the year you began your program. Your program of study can be found on MyDC.
Courses and course descriptions are subject to change. Please note that as a result of COVID-19 the 2023-2024 program of study may be modified to accommodate program delivery changes.
More than 75% of this program is delivered in-person.
The rest of the coursework will be delivered using hybrid, flexible or online formats. Students will come to campus to complete in-person learning requirements.Detailed schedules, with course-specific delivery information, will be available after registration. Courses, course descriptions and delivery formats are subject to change.
Your learning experience will be complemented by two field placements of 120 hours each included in the final year, which will give you the opportunity to practice the knowledge and skills you have obtained to prepare you for working in your chosen industry upon graduation.
To be eligible for the field placement component of this program you must (at your expense) provide:
In order to maintain confidentiality and security, the program utilizes an independent provider, Verified by Synergy Gateway for field placement documentation collection and validation. This process is the Electronic Student Permit Checking (ESPC). There is a cost associated with this external agency of $51.00. Please refer to the Recreation and Leisure Services Program ESPC Information Package for details.
Durham College also offers degree completion opportunities with a number of Canadian and international institutions. Sample diploma-to-degree opportunities include:
Please visit out pathways page to learn more about how you can transfer your credits towards a degree.
To help students have the best remote learning experience possible, Durham College’s IT Services department has identified technology recommendations for each program based on course needs and software requirements. While not required, students may want to consider these suggestions if they are purchasing a computer or laptop for the upcoming academic year.
Processor: i3 RAM: 4GB Storage: 256GB SSD Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Professional or Education x64 SP1 Internet Browser: Internet Explorer 11 or Google Chrome (newest version) or Firefox (newest version) Network Adapter: 802.11ac 2.4/5 GHz wireless adapter Camera: Webcam/built-in camera Internet connection
Questions regarding technology recommendations can be directed to the IT Service Desk or the school office.
905.721.3000
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