Tantramar could become a regional leader in recreation if all goes according to the municipality’s newly-developed Recreation Master Plan.
Approved at the last regular council meeting on September 8, the plan features 16 recommendations, ranging from short- to long-term goals, to help guide staff for the next five to 10 years.
Among those is an ongoing effort to build on regional collaboration, which Tantramar is well positioned to do given its centrality to smaller municipalities in southeast New Brunswick as well as Nova Scotia, said Matt Pryde, Tantramar’s director of Active Living and Culture.
“ I think there’s a lot of opportunity here for us to be a leader in our trails, our cultural events, and just being a great opportunity for the Southeast Regional Service Commission to use Tantramar as kind of their test dummy, I guess, for any of their initiatives that they’re using in recreation.”
Listen to the audio below:
One such example is the SRSC’s new cost-share infrastructure program for recreation facilities, which helps municipalities fund larger projects they may not be able to afford on their own, said Pryde.
“ The rec master plan talks about a multipurpose center, so being out in front of that kind of stuff and being involved in the conversation with the Regional Service Commission, which we have been throughout their process, would just position us in a good place to be able to make sure that we’re at the forefront of their minds when these programs and opportunities come up.”
A new multipurpose centre has been talked about for some time now, and while it’s a priority, it’s still a ways off, Pryde said.
“ I mean, this is still five to 10 years off in reality, just you know for dollars and cents reasons if nothing else. But it’s definitely a conversation that has already started and will continue to move forward. And I suspect in the new year we’ll start, budget pending, having some real talks about what it could look like and where it could potentially go.”
How we got here
The process to develop the plan started in 2025, when council approved RC Strategies—a firm specializing in recreation, parks, trails, tourism and cultural planning—to move forward with a consultation process.
Out of that came two important documents: the What We Heard and What We Learned reports.
“ So the ‘what we heard’ report was basically exactly like the exact feedback that they got during the consultation process. And the ‘what we learned’ report was more kind of taking that feedback and putting it together to come up with ideas of where the gaps are in our services.
“So once they knew those gaps, then they were able to create these goals. Once they saw kind of common themes along those gaps, they could create these goals to put in the master plan.”
Altogether, over 900 residents submitted feedback and suggestions throughout the process—about 10 per cent of the population, which is statistically significant.
Five overarching goals were identified: active living and wellness, accessibility, collaboration, communication and sustainability. From those five goals came the 16 recommendations.
Where we’re going
Some of the short-term recommendations include things like developing a facility allocation policy, covering everything from the Bill Johnstone Centre, to the Dorchester Veterans’ Centre, to ice and field time, or the development of a formal service agreement with Mount Allison University to ensure equitable access to facilities for both parties.
More long-term, or ongoing, goals are things like the aforementioned multipurpose centre and addressing programming gaps, particularly in terms of offerings to teens and older adults, as well as wards outside of Sackville and Dorchester.
Less forward-facing, but still necessary, are things like the development of an internal communications system and optimizing the use of recreation management software.
Of course, it’s important to remember the plan is not set in stone, said Pryde, and much of it will take time to implement. Still, he is excited to get going.
“ It is a 10-year plan, so don’t expect everything that’s in it to happen in year one. But you know, I’m excited to have some guidance for the department. And we can use that when we’re directing our staff on some of their responsibilities as well. And there’s a lot of policies and procedures in that plan that need to be hashed out and brought forward to council and discussed.
“So I’m just excited to get going. I think it’s an exciting time for our municipality and our department in particular. We get to grow something that’s never been done before because it’s, with Tantramar, it’s still brand new, so it’s fun. Exciting times.”
Read the full plan here to see all 16 recommendations.
