A school gymnasium, playing field or auditorium may look like little more than a physical asset on a balance sheet. To the community, however, such spaces can represent something far more valuable: a place where children learn teamwork, seniors remain active, volunteers find purpose and neighbours who might otherwise never meet develop lasting relationships.

That is why reports of community organizations, particularly sports groups, being squeezed by rising school facility rental fees deserve more than passing attention. A recent report from Ontario, for example, highlighted a York Region community tennis programme whose annual school gym permit reportedly rose from less than $800 to more than $5,000. Such increases may make financial sense from an institutional perspective, but they can be devastating for volunteer driven organizations operating on modest budgets.

The danger is that the first casualties will not necessarily be the organizations themselves, but the people they serve.

Community sports, cultural groups, youth clubs, Scouts, seniors’ organizations and other voluntary associations provide much more than recreation. They create social networks, encourage volunteering and give people opportunities to work together toward common objectives. Research and sector evidence increasingly recognize sport and recreation as contributors to social, health and economic well being. The Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute estimates the social value of volunteering through sport, physical activity and recreation at $13.6 billion.

When affordable space disappears, participation becomes more expensive. Some organizations will increase membership fees. Others will reduce programmes, limit enrolment or abandon activities altogether. Families with the fewest financial resources are likely to be excluded first.

There is also a less visible cost. Every community group that disappears takes with it a network of relationships. Social capital is built through repeated interaction, trust, cooperation and shared experiences. Remove the places where those interactions occur and communities become less connected.

Schools, meanwhile, are uniquely positioned to serve as community hubs outside instructional hours. Partnerships between schools and community organizations can create shared benefits, allowing facilities to be used more efficiently while strengthening relationships between educational institutions and the communities around them.

This does not mean schools should be expected to subsidize every organization indefinitely. Facilities cost money to operate, maintain and insure. But a purely commercial approach to community access misses the broader public value being created.

Governments and school authorities should therefore consider reduced community rates, tiered fees based on an organization’s size and purpose, long term agreements and subsidies for groups serving children, seniors and lower income residents. A portion of facility capacity could also be reserved specifically for non profit community use.

The guiding principle should be simple: public and publicly supported spaces should generate public value.

If community organizations are forced out because they cannot afford the rooms, fields and gyms they need, society ultimately pays a much higher price. Preserving affordable access is not charity. It is an investment in healthier, more connected and more resilient communities.

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