All Town recreational facilities to close, Whitby Public Library remains open at 50% capacity

On January 3, the Ontario government announced the entire province – including the Town of Whitby – will return to the modified version of its Step Two Roadmap to Reopen effective Wednesday, January 5, at 12:01 a.m. for at least 21 days (until January 26).

Here’s what you need to know now:

Connecting with the Town

There are many ways to connect with the Town, whether it’s online, over the phone or by email. As of Wednesday, January 5, appointments will be required to access select in-person services. To view the list of services currently available in-person or to book an appointment, visit whitby.ca/appointments.

Before entering a Town facility, residents must follow all public health requirements, like wearing a mask and completing the health and safety screening.

Community Centres

All of the Town’s recreation facilities will be closed to the public effective at the end of business today (January 4) until further notice. This includes Iroquois Park Sports Centre, the Whitby Civic Recreation Complex as well as the Health Club, Brooklin Community Centre and Library (excluding the library), as well as all indoor ice rinks and pools. This means pool permits, ice permits and private meeting room bookings will be suspended until further notice. The Whitby 55+ Recreation Centre will also be closed until further notice.

The start of the Town’s in-person Winter Recreation programming will also be delayed for a period of at least five weeks. Virtual programming will continue as planned. There are still some virtual programs available for registration. Learn more at whitby.ca/getactive.

Refunds or credits will be issued for any cancelled permits or bookings. All memberships have been or will be placed on hold and pre-authorized payments suspended. For membership questions or cancellations, please email getactive@whitby.ca.

Outdoor Rinks

The Town is working to open two natural ice skating rinks for community use: one at Peel Park (in the lacrosse box) and the other at Brooklin Memorial Park (in the tennis courts). While the rinks are expected to open later this winter, as natural rinks their exact opening date will be highly dependent on weather. Residents can stay informed on when the rinks will open by visiting whitby.ca/skating or following the Town of Whitby on Twitter or Facebook.

Once open, the rinks will operate between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. daily. Each rink will be limited to 50 per cent capacity – first come, first serve – to help ensure safe physical distancing requirements in place at the rink’s opening. Rink users will be required to follow all posted safety signage and COVID-19 public health guidelines. 

Whitby Public Library

All Whitby Public Library locations will continue to operate at 50 per cent capacity limits, with public health restrictions in place.

Extended Downtown Parking Supports

During modified Step Two, parking supports for businesses in Downtown Whitby will continue and include:

• Free parking – all on-street meter and municipal lot parking in Downtown Whitby will continue to be free. Municipal lot parking will also continue to be free in Downtown Brooklin.
• 15-minute parking spaces - the Town will continue to offer 15-minute parking at almost 20 of its metered on-street parking locations in Downtown Whitby to help support safe curbside pick-up.

Community Impacts

Modified Step Two also means changes to permitted activities and gathering limits. These changes include, but are not limited to:

• social gathering limits being reduced to five people indoors and 10 people outdoors; and,
• indoor meeting and event spaces being closed.