City services | June 7, 2022
Settling in a new country comes with many challenges, and the City of Mississauga is doing its part to help Ukrainians new to Mississauga quickly and easily access sports and recreation programs. The City’s ActiveAssist program has been updated to assist new Ukrainians living in Mississauga. The program has helped thousands of low-income families in Mississauga access City programming and activities such as swimming, skating, fitness and summer camps. The program will now provide qualifying Ukrainians (those with a visa issued under Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel) with the ability to apply for the program within their first year in Canada.
“The City has welcomed many Ukrainians to Mississauga this year. Many of them have not been issued the Refugee Protection Claimant Document, which would normally be needed to qualify for the ActiveAssist Program,” said Jodi Robillos, Commissioner, Community Services. “We have updated our ActiveAssist policy to ensure that any Ukrainian who has been issued the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel visa will now have the ability to apply to the program.”
ActiveAssist provides eligible low-income households with a fee credit of $275 per person, per year to use for recreational, cultural and library programs and activities.
Eligibility for the ActiveAssist program is based on economic need. According to Low-Income Cut-Offs (LICO) established by Statistics Canada, individuals and families living in Mississauga whose financial circumstances make them unable to pay for recreation, library and cultural programs and services offered by the City are eligible. While post-secondary students who are enrolled full time in a college or university are not eligible, an exception is made for full-time post-secondary students with dependants.
“The City’s ActiveAssist program has helped thousands of Mississauga families in financial need by providing them with access to recreation, library and cultural programs. ActiveAssist has proven to be an innovative approach for reducing barriers to participation and supporting our community,” said Kristina Zietsma, Director, Recreation. “Capacity limits for participants in ActiveAssist have grown from 2,500 to 14,500 since the program was introduced.”
Participants will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Each eligible ActiveAssist participant will be enrolled for one year and receive an annual fee credit of $275 that can be applied to City culture, library and recreational registered paid programs and memberships (e.g. fitness or swim).
Participants have one year from the date of activation to use their fee credit. Interested Mississauga residents can apply by completing the fee assistance program application at their local community centre or online.
For more information and a complete list of all programs offered, visit mississauga.ca/activeassist. For questions about the program, call the Customer Service Centre at 905-615-4100 or email Recreation.Subsidy@mississauga.ca.
Media Contact:
City of Mississauga Media Relations
media@mississauga.ca
905-615-3200, ext. 5232
TTY: 905-896-5151
City of Mississauga Media Relations
media@mississauga.ca
905-615-3200, ext. 5232
TTY: 905-896-5151