Canada's Core Public Infrastructure Survey: Culture, recreation and sports facilities, and public social and affordable housing, 2016
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Released: 2018-10-09
Culture, recreation and sport facilities
Canada had 5,400 ice arenas, and over 4,700 pools and splash pads in 2016. There were also nearly 4,400 arts and culture facilities and about 30,000 other facilities, consisting of sports fields, community centres, tennis courts, skate parks, curling rinks and stadiums.
Municipalities own more than 98% of these publicly-owned culture, recreation and sport facilities.
Statistics Canada, in partnership with Infrastructure Canada, has launched its first-ever catalogue of the state of the nation's infrastructure to provide statistical information on the stock, condition, performance and asset management strategies of Canada's core public infrastructure assets. This includes a wide variety of assets owned and operated by provincial, territorial, regional and municipal governments. These are bridges and tunnels, roads, wastewater, storm water, potable water and solid waste assets, as well as social and affordable housing, culture, recreation and sports facilities and public transit.
The Daily will carry a series of releases over the coming months, each addressing a sub-group of these assets. This second release presents findings on culture, recreation and sports facilities; and public social and affordable housing.
Most arts and culture facilities are in good or very good condition
Canada had 4,412 publicly-owned arts and culture facilities in 2016. These consisted of 2,182 libraries, 1,022 museums and archives, 884 presentation and performance spaces and 324 galleries.
Almost two-fifths of presentation and performance spaces (38.3%) and galleries (38.0%) have been constructed since 2000, compared with 33.8% of libraries and 16.8% of museums and archives.
Owners of the facilities were asked to rate the overall physical condition of their culture, recreation and sports facilities using the following condition rating scale: very poor, poor, fair, good and very good. See note to readers for a detailed description of each condition rating.
Over three-fifths of every type of arts and culture facility were in good or very good physical condition.
New libraries are expected to last longest among arts and culture facilities
Of arts and culture facilities built in 2016, libraries (46 years) and presentation and performance spaces (41 years) had the longest average expected useful life among publicly-owned arts and culture facilities. Galleries were expected to last for 34 years on average and museums and archives for 16 years.
Nearly two-thirds of ice arenas are outdoors
In 2016, almost two-thirds (65.6%) of publicly-owned ice arenas were outdoor facilities, while 27.7% were indoor single-pad ice arenas. Indoor ice arenas with more than one pad accounted for the remainder.
Nearly three-fifths (56.5%) of outdoor ice arenas were constructed since 2000, while most indoor single-pad ice arenas (85.1%) were built before 2000.
Around half of outdoor ice arenas (55.3%) and indoor single-pad ice arenas (49.7%) were reported as being in good or very good physical condition, while one-fifth (20.2%) of indoor single-pad ice arenas were reported to be in poor or very poor condition.
Of the arenas built in 2016, indoor single-pad ice arenas had an average expected useful life of 32 years, while outdoor ice arenas had an average expected useful life of 18 years.
About half of indoor pools 50 metres or longer and leisure pools were built since 2000
There were 2,716 publicly-owned pools and 1,994 splash pads in Canada in 2016. Over one-third of pools were indoor (37.4%), one-third were outdoor (33.7%) and 28.9% were wading pools.
Approximately half of the pools of each type were constructed from 1970 to 1999. From 1940 to 1969, 40.6% of wading pools and 31.0% of outdoor pools were built, while 54.1% of leisure pools and 49.8% of indoor pools 50 metres or longer were built since 2000.
Almost three-quarters of indoor leisure pools (70.1%) and over half of indoor pools of 25 metres length (54.5%) were reported to be in good or very good condition, while 9.0% of indoor leisure pools and 19.3% of indoor pools of 25 metres length were reported as being in poor or very poor condition. Almost half (45.9%) of outdoor pools were in good or very good condition, while one-quarter (24.9%) were in poor or very poor condition.
Of pools built in 2016, indoor pools 50 metres or longer had an average expected useful life of 48 years, followed by indoor pools of 25 metres (38 years) and indoor leisure pools (37 years). Outdoor pools were expected to last for 29 years on average and wading pools, for 25 years. The average expected useful life of splash pads was 20 years.
Other culture, recreation and sports facilities
Approximately 30,000 sports fields, community centres, tennis courts, skate parks, curling rinks, and stadiums accounted for all other publicly-owned culture, recreation and sports facilities in Canada in 2016. Nearly three-fifths (56.8%) of these facilities were outdoor sports fields, while 22.5% were outdoor tennis courts and 12.3% were community centres. There were also 1,266 outdoor skate parks, 466 curling rinks, 315 indoor sports fields, 232 outdoor stadiums, 137 indoor tennis courts, 67 indoor stadiums, and 16 indoor skate parks.
Indoor stadiums (82.1%) and indoor tennis courts (80.9%) were the most likely among these other publicly-owned facilities to be in good or very physical condition, followed by indoor sports fields (72.9%) and indoor skate parks (68.6%).
Of other facilities built in 2016, outdoor stadiums (38 years), indoor stadiums (44 years), and indoor curling rinks (50 years) were anticipated to be the most long-lived.
Just over one-quarter of all culture, recreation and sports facilities owners have an asset management plan
Just over one-quarter (25.1%) of the public organizations owning culture, recreation and sports facilities had an asset management plan in 2016. Almost two-fifths (38.8%) of those without a plan in 2016 anticipated implementing one within four years.
Over two-thirds of all culture, recreation and sports facilities allow for accessibility
The majority of each type of facility allowed for accessibility, with this provision being made in more than 70% of ice arenas, pools, and other facilities—which includes skate parks, curling rinks, stadiums, tennis courts, and sports fields. A slightly higher share of arts and culture facilities (79.8%) and multi-purpose facilities (76.9%) were reported as being accessible.
Social and affordable housing
Canadian governments, excluding Quebec (see note to readers) reported over 250,000 publicly-owned social and affordable housing units in 2016, situated in nearly 40,000 distinct structures.
Two-thirds of all public social and affordable housing units are in apartment buildings
While apartment buildings represented 9.0% of all structures in 2016, they contained the largest share (63.0%) of publicly-owned social and affordable housing units. Under a quarter (24.4%) of housing units were in row house structures, while 6.0% were in semi-detached houses and 6.6% were in single detached houses.
There were more single detached houses (41.8%), row houses (27.8%), and semi-detached houses (21.3%) than apartment buildings in the inventory.
Social and affordable housing apartment buildings with fewer than five storeys had an average of 23 units, while those with five storeys or more averaged about 119 units per building.
Ontario has highest number of social and affordable housing structures and units
In 2016, Ontario led in the number of social and affordable housing units (127,064), followed by Alberta (33,870), British Columbia (22,124) and Saskatchewan (17,822). Ontario also had the most structures (8,786), followed by Alberta (6,729) and Saskatchewan (4,840).
Municipalities own over two-fifths of units
While regional and provincial governments accounted for more than three-quarters of publicly-owned social and affordable housing structures in 2016, the structures owned by municipalities (23.5%) represented 43.8% of all units. These municipally owned units were concentrated almost entirely in urban municipalities (97.6%).
Nearly all social and affordable housing structures were constructed prior to 2000
Almost three-quarters (74.2%) of the 39,097 public social and affordable housing structures were constructed from 1970 to 1999, while 19.0% were built from 1940 to 1969. Since 2000, 5.2% of social and affordable housing structures have been constructed.
Between one-third and two-thirds of each type of structure was in good or very good physical condition
Owners of housing structures were asked to rate the overall physical condition of their social and affordable housing structures using the following condition rating scale: very poor, poor, fair, good and very good. See note to readers for a detailed description of each condition rating.
Row houses (56.5%), apartment buildings with fewer than five storeys (53.8%) and single detached houses (46.4%) were most likely to be reported to be in good or very good physical condition. Smaller proportions of apartment buildings with five or more storeys (38.4%), and semi-detached houses (34.3%) were reported as being in good or very good condition.
Around one-third of apartment buildings with five or more storeys (35.4%), semi-detached structures (33.8%) and row houses (29.6%) were reported as being in poor or very poor condition. Just over one-quarter of apartment buildings with fewer than five storeys (25.9%) and single-detached houses (25.8%) were reported as being in poor or very poor condition.
More than half of owners have an asset management plan for social and affordable housing
Over half (56.1%) of owners reported having an asset management plan for social and affordable housing in 2016. More than two-fifths (44.7%) of owners without a plan intended to implement one within four years, while 21.3% of those without an asset management plan in place did not anticipate implementing one in the future.
Among the provinces, owners in Ontario (81.6%), British Columbia (70.0%) and Saskatchewan (66.7%) were the most likely to have a social and affordable housing asset management plan, while 40.0% of owners in the territories reported having such a plan.
More than two-fifths of all social and affordable housing structures are within 1,000 metres of a public transit station or stop
In 2016, more than two-fifths (43.7%) of the country's social and affordable housing structures were located within 1,000 metres of a public transit station or stop.
Note to readers
Canada's Core Public Infrastructure Survey 2016 was conducted in partnership with Infrastructure Canada.
Data are based on responses from approximately 1,500 government organizations selected from Statistics Canada's Business Register, the central repository of information on public and private organizations operating in Canada. It is used as the principal frame for most of Statistics Canada's economic statistical programs. The following organizations are included in the survey:
- Provincial and territorial departments and ministries responsible for roads; bridges and tunnels; public social and affordable housing; culture, recreation and sports; and public transit
- Regional governments within the urban core
- Urban municipalities
- Rural municipalities with at least 1,000 residents.
The survey results cover nine asset types (bridges and tunnels; culture, recreation and sports facilities; potable water; public transit; roads; public social and affordable housing; solid waste; storm water; wastewater), as well as information on asset management practices, 13 geographic regions, 5 municipality sizes and urban/rural municipalities.
Throughout this release, the term publicly-owned refers to an asset being owned or leased by the provincial, territorial, regional and municipal orders of government.
Respondents were asked to rate the overall physical condition of their assets by using the following condition rating scale:
Very poor: The asset is unfit for sustained service. Near or beyond expected service life, widespread signs of advanced deterioration, some assets may be unusable.
Poor: Increasing potential of affecting service. The asset is approaching end of service life; condition below standard and a large portion of system exhibits significant deterioration.
Fair: The asset requires attention. The assets show signs of deterioration and some elements exhibit deficiencies.
Good: The asset is adequate. Acceptable, generally within mid stage of expected service life.
Very good: Asset is fit for the future. Well maintained, good condition, new or recently rehabilitated.
An asset management plan defines how a group of assets is to be managed over a period of time. The asset management plan describes the characteristics and condition of infrastructure assets, the levels of service expected from them, planned actions to ensure the assets are providing the expected level of service, and financing strategies to implement the planned actions.
Information on other asset types will be released over the coming months.
Culture, recreation and sports facilities
Culture, recreation and sports facilities include the following:
Ice arenas facilities include indoor ice arenas (single pad; two–three pads; four pads; five pads or more) and outdoor ice arenas.
Pool facilities include indoor pools (25 metres; 50 metres or longer and leisure pools); outdoor pools; wading pools and splash pads.
Multiple-purpose facilities include a combination of various facility components such as a pool, arena, fitness centre, meeting rooms, seniors' centre, gallery, museum, training space and presentation space.
Art and culture facilities include galleries; libraries; museums and archives; and presentation and performance spaces.
Other facilities include skate parks (indoor/outdoor); indoor curling rinks; stadiums (indoor/outdoor); tennis courts (indoor/outdoor); sports field (indoor/outdoor) and ski hills.
Public social and affordable housing
Social and affordable housing data for Quebec are not available for reference year 2016. For tables 46-10-0001-01 to 46-10-0016-01, estimates for Canada excluding Quebec were produced.
Public social and affordable housing, for the purposes of this survey, refers to publicly-owned housing units that are owned and/or operated by a level of government (provincial, territorial, regional, and municipal) aiming to provide affordable, safe and supportive housing for low-to-moderate-income households. It encompasses ownership and rental housing as well as emergency and supportive shelters for different population groups. Other characteristics include where bricks and mortar and operating deficits are financed through public funding, and where households receive housing subsidies or pay a rent geared to their income which is lower than what the private market would ask for the same shelter.
Social and affordable housing structures include the following:
Single-detached house: A single dwelling not attached to any other dwelling or structure (except its own garage or shed). A single-detached house has open space on all sides, and has no dwellings either above it or below it. A mobile home fixed permanently to a foundation is also classified as a single-detached house.
Semi-detached house: One of two dwellings attached side by side (or back to back) to each other, but not attached to any other dwelling or structure (except its own garage or shed). The two units together have open space on all sides. Includes duplex and triplex housing.
Row house: One of three or more dwellings joined side by side (or occasionally side to back), such as a townhouse or garden home, but not having any other dwellings either above or below. Townhouses attached to a high-rise building are also classified as row houses. A set of row houses represents one structure.
Apartment building that has five or more storeys: A high-rise apartment building which has five or more storeys.
Apartment building that has fewer than five storeys: A building that has fewer than five storeys.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).
For more information about why the survey was conducted and how it will inform infrastructure policy and program development and investment decisions, please contact Infrastructure Canada (toll-free: 1-877-250-7154 or 613-948-1148 or by email at infc.info.infc@canada.ca) or Infrastructure Canada Media Relations (toll-free: 1-877-250-7154 or 613-960-9251 or by email at infc.media.infc@canada.ca).
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