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Ministry-approved title: Recreation And Leisure Services
Recreation and leisure professionals provide healthy, well-rounded lifestyle opportunities for community members to connect, play, and grow. Helping people of all ages to engage in recreation and leisure programs and events is 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 software.
Durham College (DC) offers pre-admission assessment testing to mature domestic applicants to meet admission requirements in English and/or math. Domestic applicants that are 19 years of age or older as of the start date of their program, and who do not have the required program credit(s) i.e., Grade 12 English and/or Grade 12 math are eligible to take an admissions assessment test.
Learn more about how to book Pre-Admission Assessment Testing here.
DC also offers Academic upgrading courses are FREE and designed to help you meet the admissions requirements for this program. Available to individuals 18+, these courses are offered on-campus at DC. Boost your qualifications with:
Learn more about Academic Upgrading and connect with our team to get started.
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Please contact the international office.
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:
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 used extensively in the Canadian recreation industry. Students also receive Parks and Recreation Ontario and Therapeutic Recreation Ontario memberships.
Students entering their first year of studies in a Faculty of Business program will receive a membership to all of Durham Region’s Chambers of Commerce and Boards of Trade for the duration of their studies, plus an additional year following graduation. As one of the only colleges in Ontario with this offering, DC is proud to provide students with access to local businesses at a regional level.
The Chambers of Commerce and Boards of Trade include:
Membership benefits:
High Five Principles of Healthy Childhood Development (PHCD)
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 MyDC. Students are responsible to ensure they are not duplicating their GNED or FNMI selections as per their diploma requirements. For a successful program completion, students must have successfully completed three unique elective courses as per their program of study.
Courses, course descriptions and delivery formats are subject to change.
In person
Students will come to campus to complete in-person learning requirements. Detailed schedules, with course-specific delivery information, will be available after registration. Courses, course descriptions and delivery formats are subject to change.
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.
To be eligible for the field placement component of this program you must (at your expense) provide:
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 Requirements Verification (ERV). There is a cost associated with this external agency of $52.00. Please refer to the Recreation and Leisure Services Program ERV Information Package for details.
Durham College also offers degree completion opportunities with a number of Canadian and international institutions. Sample diploma-to-degree opportunities include:
Please visit out pathways page to learn more about how you can transfer your credits towards a degree.
Looking for more pathway opportunities or to transfer to Durham College? Click here for more information.
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