Advertisement

City closer to updating recreation registration system

The City of Ottawa is getting closer to updating its recreation registration system — a service that has frustrated many parents trying to sign their kids up for city-run programs.

During a meeting of the city's community and protective services committee Thursday, recreation manager Dan Chenier said revamping the registration system is a priority for his department, but could still take more than a year.

"We are on the cusp, we believe, of signing for a new service and ... if we finalize that piece before year-end ... we can have this system up and running in early 2021," Chenier told the committee.

Coun. Jeff Leiper said updating the system should be a top concern for the department.

"I don't want to make it a term of council priority, I want to make it a term of, like, as soon as possible priority," he said.

Chenier said one of the challenges has been ensuring the new system is flawlessly bilingual.

"Having a good, robust French version of what we do ... in this market is often a challenge," he said.

The Associated Press
The Associated Press

The city had attempted to create its own system before seeking to contract it out, the committee heard.

"We were a good ways into implementing a solution, and have now had to look at another solution," Chenier acknowledged.