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  • Recreation and Leisure Services

Recreation and Leisure Services

Credential
Ontario College Diploma
Location
Oshawa
School
School of Business, IT & Management (BITM)
Length
Four semesters
OCAS Code
RECL
Next Intake
September 2021   +View all Intakes
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  • Overview
  • Program Details
  • Admission Requirements
  • Courses
  • Costs
  • Career Options
  • Field Placement
  • Transfer

Program Overview

Recreation and leisure professionals provide healthy, well-rounded lifestyle opportunities for community members to connect, play, and grow. This puts helping people of all ages to engage in recreation and leisure programs and events 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, program and event planning, implementation and evaluation, while learning how to use industry-standard records management software.

Admission Requirements

  • Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) or Mature Student Status
  • Grade 12 English (C or U)

View All Requirements

Tuition

Year one domestic: $2,722 (CAD)
Year one international: $13,322 (CAD)

View Full Costs

Semester 1 Courses

  • Communications For Recreation & Leisure (COMM 1209)
  • Intro To Computer Applications (COMP 1704)
  • General Education Elective (GNED 0000)
  • Intro To Rec & Leisure Services (RLIR 1200)
  • Program And Event Management (RLPE 1200)
  • Research Strategies (RLST 2201)

View All Courses

Field Placement
Field Placement
Planning
Planning
Working Outdoors
Working Outdoors

Technology recommendations

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.

View All Recommendations

Intakes and Availability

Date Domestic Availability International Availability
September 2021OpenOpen

Career Options

WHAT YOU COULD BE:

  • Activity Director
  • Outdoor Education Programmer
  • Parks/Facilities/Recreation Coordinator
  • Fitness and Recreation Coordinator
  • Recreational Sports League Convener
  • Sport/Leisure Consultant
  • Team/club Program Coordinator
  • Youth Programmer
  • Recreation Manager

View all Career Options

Program Details

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:

  • Community development
  • Facility management
  • Fundraising
  • Outdoor recreation
  • Program and event management
  • Recreation for diverse populations

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, which is used extensively in the Canadian recreation industry. Students also receive Parks and Recreation Ontario membership.

Program Learning Outcomes

  1. Develop, implement and evaluate inclusive recreation, leisure and wellness programs and events for individuals, groups and communities which respond to assessed needs, interests, abilities and that use available resources and incorporate best practices.
  2. Apply administrative and customer service skills to support the delivery of recreation, leisure and wellness programs, events and services.
  3. Analyze, develop and implement marketing strategies to reach diverse individuals, groups and communities for programs, events, services and facilities using current communication technologies.
  4. Contribute to the development of fiscally sustainable and responsible recreation, leisure and wellness programs, events and services using current and relevant principles and practices of business, finance and social entrepreneurship.
  5. Supervise, lead and support the development of staff and volunteers involved with recreation, leisure and wellness programs, events and services.
  6. Apply safety and accessibility practices to the efficient operation and administration of recreation and leisure facilities and settings.
  7. Promote the benefits and values of recreation, leisure and healthy active living and recommend inclusive programs, events and services to individuals and groups.
  8. Apply community development strategies which engage citizens and community partners while advocating for healthy communities.
  9. Develop strategies for ongoing personal and professional development as a recreation and leisure services professional.

Certifications

    • High Five Principles of Healthy Childhood Development (PHCD)
    • High Five Principles of Healthy Aging
    • High Five Quality Experience Scanning Tool (QUEST 2)
    • U-First training for professional caregivers for people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias from the Alzheimer Society of Ontario
    • First Aid & CPR-C

Admission Requirements

  • Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) or Mature Student Status
  • Grade 12 English (C or U)

Courses

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 MyCampus.

Semester 1

  • Communications For Recreation & Leisure (COMM 1209)
  • Intro To Computer Applications (COMP 1704)
  • General Education Elective (GNED 0000)
  • Intro To Rec & Leisure Services (RLIR 1200)
  • Program And Event Management (RLPE 1200)
  • Research Strategies (RLST 2201)

Semester 2

  • Field Placement Seminar (FWKL 4200)
  • General Education Elective (GNED 0000)
  • Human Resource Management (HR 2202)
  • Recreation Marketing (MKTG 1205)
  • Recreation Administration, Finance & Revenue Generation (RLRA 2200)
  • Recreation & Sport Programming (RLRE 2200)
  • Recreation For Diverse Populations (RLRS 2200)

Semester 3

  • Fundraising (FNDR 3300)
  • Field Placement I (FWKR 3201)
  • General Education Elective (GNED 0000)
  • Facility Management (RLFM 3200)
  • Leadership (RLLE 3301)
  • Outdoor Recreation Leadership (RLOR 3200)

Semester 4

  • Field Placement II (FWKL 4201)
  • Community Development (RLCD 4200)
  • Career Planning For Recreation & Leisure (RLCR 4200)
  • Business & Community Development (RLPR 4202)
  • Wellness Lifestyle Management (RLWL 4200)

Courses and course descriptions are subject to change. Please note that as a result of COVID-19 the 2020-21 program of study may be modified to accommodate program delivery changes. Students should refer to their timetable for the most up-to-date course information.

Costs

Career Options

WHAT YOU COULD BE:

  • Activity Director
  • Outdoor Education Programmer
  • Parks/Facilities/Recreation Coordinator
  • Fitness and Recreation Coordinator
  • Recreational Sports League Convener
  • Sport/Leisure Consultant
  • Team/club Program Coordinator
  • Youth Programmer
  • Recreation Manager

WHERE YOU COULD WORK:

  • Community centres
  • Municipal government agencies
  • Not-for-profit agencies
  • Outdoor education centres
  • Private /commercial organizations
  • Retirement residencies
  • Long-term care facilities
  • Sport organizations
  • Therapeutic institutions
  • Recreation/event tourism

Field Placement

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.

Documentation Requirements

To be eligible for the field placement component of this program you must (at your expense) provide:

  • Entry Immunization form completed by a health-care provider
  • Criminal Reference Check with Vulnerable Sector Screening (valid for 6 months)

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 $49.95.  Please refer to the Recreation and Leisure Services Program ESPC Information Package for details.

Program Transfer, Degree Completion and Additional Credentials

Durham College also offers degree completion opportunities with a number of Canadian and international institutions. Sample diploma-to-degree opportunities include:

  • Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) bridge – Ontario Tech University (Ontario Tech)
  • Bachelor of Arts (Honours) – Educational Studies and Digital Technology – Ontario Tech
  • Bachelor of Recreation and Leisure Studies - Brock University
  • Bachelor of Science (Honours) Sports Studies - Hartpury College
  • Bachelor of Business Administration – Marketing - Davenport University
  • Bachelor of Business Administration – Sport Management - Davenport University

Please visit out pathways page to learn more about how you can transfer your credits towards a degree.

Technology Recommendations

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.

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