January 26, 2024Statement to the Dovercourt Recreation Community 

The safety and wellbeing of children and youth are our utmost priorities, and this is a responsibility we take very seriously. Our inclusion and accessibility programs are an important pillar of what we do.  

There is an investigation underway and Dovercourt will continue to provide its full cooperation with the relevant authorities, including the Ottawa Police Service and the Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa. We are unable to provide any further comment on the specific case as the matter is presently before the court. 

Further details and direction from the Ottawa Police Service can be found at the Ottawa Police Service Media Release 

Dovercourt operates in an environment of constant improvement, and we will continue to proactively communicate with our community going forward.   

Our commitment to the Dovercourt staff, children, parents, adults, and seniors is unwavering. Please do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected] if you have any questions or concerns.   

Respectfully,  

Sureen Gosal 

Executive Director 
Dovercourt Recreation Association 

Building a healthy, active and engaged community through recreation

DRA, since 1983

Dovercourt Recreation Association (DRA) is a not-for-profit, charitable organization (Registered Charity No. 11944 4263 RT0001) dedicated to enhancing the quality of life in our community through recreation programs.

In 1983, the City of Ottawa began work on the planning of a new community centre to replace the Westboro Community Centre. DRA was actively involved in the process, and when the new centre opened in 1987, Dovercourt was given the responsibility of managing the new centre through a service agreement. While we are part of the City of Ottawa’s recreation system, DRA is empowered to choose what programs it runs to meet the community’s needs, and how those programs are delivered.

Staff, volunteers, clients, local community groups and businesses working together…that’s Dovercourt.

Our motto:

“A Community Working For the Community, Une communauté qui travaille pour la communauté”.

Dovercourt Recreation Association was Eastern Ontario’s first HIGH FIVE Accredited organization, providing the highest standard of recreation programming for children in Ottawa. Children will find HIGH FIVE® certified leaders in every Aquatic, Recreation, Camp and After-School program.

For our hours of operation, location etc, see the Contact Us page.

Our Executive Director

Sureen Gosal

Sureen Gosal joined Dovercourt as the new Executive Director in July 2022.

Sureen has extensive experience at a senior level working in the not-for-profit sector and has demonstrated to be a community builder for numerous years. Sureen has a degree in business and entrepreneurship from Mount Royal University in Alberta. He departs his role as the Executive Director of the Ottawa Gymnastics Centre (OGC), Canada’s oldest operating not-for-profit gymnastics organization. Passionate about volunteering, he has also occupied many roles with swimming organizations in Alberta and BC.

“I am proud and honoured to be joining Dovercourt and look forward to serving the community with the outstanding team at the DRA,” says Sureen.

Sureen lives in the community with his wife, Preeti, and their two young children.

All are welcome

Our Code of Conduct

Our Pledge to You: As a community based not for profit organization, Dovercourt’s relationship with its clients is critical to its success. We welcome our clients of all ages and will do our best to provide them with a safe and enjoyable environment and high quality and fun recreation programs.

As an employer, Dovercourt is responsible to provide its employees with a rewarding, challenging and safe work environment. For that reason, DRA has expectations of its clients in its day-to-day operations.

 

Client Code of Conduct

  1. Treat fellow clients and Dovercourt staff and volunteers with respect and courtesy. Discrimination or harrassment will not be tolerated.
  2. Meet acceptable levels of personal hygiene or dress, in the interests of your health and safety and the interests of other clients using Dovercourt facilities. Refrain from use of perfumes or colognes that may affect other clients.
  3. Respect the needs of other clients for enjoyment of the programs and facility. Disruptive behaviour and excessive noise are not acceptable.
  4. Take care of Dovercourt’s facility, equipment and furniture. These are community assets that are meant to be shared.
  5. In our programs, respect our allergy aware policy. For registered programs, participants will be informed of any food or drink restrictions that may apply to ensure the safety of those suffering from allergies.
  6. Keep valuable items with you at all times. Dovercourt is not responsible for lost or stolen items.
  7. Supervise your children in the public spaces of Dovercourt. While staff supervise programs, your children’s use of the lobby, washrooms and corridors at Dovercourt need your supervision.
  8. Maintain confidentiality of other clients and staff.

Refusal of Service:

Clients have a responsibility to be respectful and considerate of other service users, employees and volunteers of the Dovercourt Recreation Association. While we will make every effort to work with clients to continue service, failure to respect the code of conduct may result in suspension or refusal to serve.

Individuals may be refused service:

  1. Where a manager and an employee agree that a client has contravened the above code of conduct.
  2. Where a client threatens or harms fellow group members, or is disruptive to the group’s ability to function.
  3. Where a client behaves violently. (See Policy on Prevention of Workplace Violence.)
  4. Where a client is threatening or obscene in interaction with employees, volunteers or other service users.

Suspension of service or a refusal to serve is at the discretion of the Executive Director of DRA.

Read more

For a text-to-voice version of these pdfs, open the files in Adobe Acrobat Reader (get it here), go to the View menu, and select “Read out Loud” to have the file read out loud. Once initiated, there are controls to pause & play.

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AGM report for 2022 (May 2023)

 

AGM report for 2021 (May 2022)

Past AGM reports