Canadian City Parks Report 2020

City Profile

Hamilton

Ontario
Population: 579000

With 17 community gardens per 100,000 people, Hamilton has the third highest number of community gardens per population.
Hamilton is one of about a quarter of cities that offer a formal park volunteer program, a grant program, and a policy to waive permit fees for groups showing financial need.
Hamilton is one of 56% of cities with a seniors strategy that includes parks.

John Rebecca Park, opened in 2019, is built on a converted downtown parking lot, and was partly funded through a $1 million donation.
In 2020, Hamilton received Bee City designation for its commitment to supporting pollinators.
Hamilton’s Summer Supie program which provides free drop-in activities for kids in parks celebrated its 110 year anniversary in 2019.

Data 2020

4.7

ha parkland per 1000 people

2717 ha of total parkland

46%

of total parkland is natural area

1240 total ha

37%

of parkland is environmentally significant/protected

1010 total ha¹

of total city land is parkland

112775 ha of total city area

Dog parks

100

Community gardens/urban farms

2.1

Parkland provision goal (ha per 1000 people)

0.6

Volunteers per 1000 people

350 total²

Community park groups

Yes

Policy to waive permit fees for groups with financial need?

Adopt-a-park

Community park group program

Clean and Green Neighbourhood Grant

City Enrichment Fund

Community grant program

$38

Parks operating budget per person

$22,083,870 total

$8,376,000

Total parks capital budget

$154,000

Total philanthropy/sponsorships

Yes

Provincially legislated tools available for parkland development

Community Benefits Charge³

¹Includes ESAs in parks that are maintained, but not owned, by the city. ²Includes volunteers engaged in maintenance/stewardship only. Decrease from 2019 due to program review/administration clean-up. ³This tool was introduced in 2019 and is still under review. Previous Provincial legislation allowed 5% of development site or cash-in-lieu.