Every spring for 17 years, Simon Rogers has navigated the Toronto District School Board’s “labyrinthine” booking system to get an annual permit to play pickup basketball Saturdays at Central Technical School with 14 friends.
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Rogers → navigate → friends
The process has long been “so complicated” and filled with jargon — one year, he said he needed a sworn affidavit that the games were not for commercial purposes.
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games → fill → purposes
But this year has brought a surprise that may be the “death knell” for the group.
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that → bring → group
The Toronto and York Region public boards have announced a price increase for annual permits to use school space for community activities.
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boards → announce → activities
This comes after the TDSB reassessed who qualifies for subsidies that can lower these costs.
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that → come → costs
For some permit holders like Rogers, these changes have led to astronomical increases that are forcing groups to evaluate whether they can continue.
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they → lead → groups
The new price for Rogers’ friends to play pickup basketball?
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friends → play → basketball
It’s nearly tripled, from $3,400 a year to $9,818.
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It → triple → 9,818
Cost of caretaking on weekends now more expensive
There is something special about the gym at Central Tech, Rogers said in an email.
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Rogers → be → email
“The floors have dead spots.
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floors → have → spots
It gets super hot when the seasons change.
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seasons → get → ?
The light comes through the high windows and you have to watch for the blind spots on defence.
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you → come → defence
We have our little rituals and routines around sweeping the floors and shoot-around before we play.
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we → have → floors
I don’t think it will have the same feel if we have to move to another gym.”
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we → think → gym
The TDSB says it has raised prices to correspond with an “inflationary increase” of 2.4 per cent and “the need to cover the true cost of caretaking during weekend permits,” said Emma Moynihan, senior communications adviser for the board.
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Moynihan → say → board
The largest increase for Rogers comes from these updated caretaking fees, he said.
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he → come → fees
His team is now being charged for an hour before and an hour after their permit time, he said, as well as the game time.
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he → charge → time
With these changes, the cost has gone up to $272 a game, $18 per person.
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cost → go → person
The new fee can’t be waived, and Rogers was advised to consider “exploring weekday bookings” by the TDSB Permit Unit, in emails shared with the Star.
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Rogers → waive → Star
“Historically, weekend facility rental fees were intended to recover the full cost of providing access to school facilities.
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fees → intend → facilities
However, over recent years, fees have not kept pace,” said Moynihan, explaining that staff pulled hundreds of thousands of dollars from other areas of the TDSB to offset these costs, a process that “cannot be continued.
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that → keep → costs
Weekend caretaking rates are standardized across facilities per a fee schedule, but charges are calculated based on the specific needs of each permit, including setting up and resetting spaces, monitoring facility access, as well as opening and closing procedures for each permitted time slot, said Moynihan.
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Moynihan → standardize → slot
Rogers said when he learned how expensive the permit would become, he contacted the permit office, the Education Ministry, and the now-retired TDSB executive officer for facilities and planning.
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he → say → facilities
Rogers said he was ignored, redirected and ultimately told he wouldn’t get any help.
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he → say → help
“This is kind of ridiculous,” he said.
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he → say → ?
“I’ve been booking for 17 years, and suddenly you’re tripling my fees ...
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you → book → fees
You didn’t talk to us?
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You → talk → us
What’s happening here?
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What → happen → ?
Children’s programming also sees a price hike
When applying for a permit, groups are classified in different categories and receive different levels of subsidies.
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groups → see → subsidies
The highest subsidy category, A1, is “intended for community groups that serve children, youth and seniors and that either offer programs free of charge or only charge fees necessary to cover permit costs.
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that → intend → costs
”
Titans Volleyball, a non-profit that has hosted house and club leagues for the past 50 years, has long been in the A1 category, said executive director Blair Mackintosh.
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Mackintosh → host → category
But last year, as a result of a TDSB audit of all A1 clients, Titans moved to B1 and a lower subsidy.
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Titans → move → B1
The TDSB told Mackintosh it believed the Titans were making over $300,000 in revenue across all of its permits by charging players $280 for the year.
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Titans → tell → year
Mackintosh said that despite the listed price to join the league, which was increased by $40 following the TDSB’s reassessment, they were not generating that kind of revenue.
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they → say → revenue
In fact, most players do not pay to participate in the volleyball program, he said.
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he → pay → program
Unlike Rogers, who only has one permit, Titans Volleyball had 17 annual TDSB permits to host games for more than 800 youth.
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Volleyball → have → youth
In 2025, with two weeks’ notice, Mackintosh said he was told the cost of their permits, which was about $50,000 in 2024, would rise to $300,000.
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which → say → 300,000
This year, their costs have gone up again, though not as drastically, he said.
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he → go → ?
Titans has yet to calculate the final costs of permits, but has closed some programs and moved others to other boards, he said.
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he → have → boards
Mackintosh said prices for Titans permits in other school boards have also increased.
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prices → say → boards
…and 18 more, not listed.
