Tennis and Pickleball Strategy

The City undertook the Tennis and Racquet Sports Study to address community needs, including clubs and associations, respond to changing facility use and demand, and introduce new types of racquet sports, such as pickleball. The study goals include:   

1. Addressing diverse resident needs, from beginners to competitive players.
2. Developing service levels for outdoor court infrastructure. 
3. Identifying optimal locations for future outdoor court development. 
4. Maximizing the use of existing outdoor court infrastructure. 
5. Enhancing programming for tennis and pickleball where needed.
6. Supporting community clubs and identifying partnership opportunities with tennis and pickleball organizations.  

In March 2025, Council endorsed the Tennis and Pickleball Strategy which provides 11 recommendations on key themes around tennis and pickleball court infrastructure development, programming, community clubs, and court management:

Infrastructure

1. Update level of service for outdoor tennis and pickleball courts.
2. Upgrade existing tennis courts and build new dedicated and shared-use pickleball facilities.
3. Aim to cover 10% of the City’s outdoor tennis courts through community partnerships over the next 10 years.
4. Explore the feasibility of a covered hub facility for tennis and pickleball.

Programming 

5. Continue to invest in beginner and intermediate-level tennis programs and consider piloting a drop-in program to test demand.
6. Expand beginner and intermediate pickleball learn-to-play and drop-in program.

Community clubs

7. Support existing community tennis clubs to provide affordable programming options for Vaughan residents.
8. Ensure that new community tennis and pickleball clubs may be established where appropriate.

Court management system

9. Extend the online recreation program registration and booking system through a pilot at select City tennis courts and at new dedicated pickleball courts.
10. Update the online court condition reporting form.
11. Gather data on court usage to inform ongoing approach.

Thank you for your feedback!

Thanks to all who participated in the public consultation process that shaped the strategy, engaging a total of 1512 participants over the following two phases:

Phase One (November 2023):

This phase gathered high-level public preferences and insights into how Vaughan residents access racquet court infrastructure and programming. A mix of in-person and online engagement were used to maximize accessibility, including an online survey, five pop-up events, and an online focus group session. (Participation: 1022 individuals)

You can review the results in an Infographic summarizing key findings or read the full Public Engagement Phase 1: What We Heard Report.

Phase Two (April and May of 2024): 

This phase deepened understanding of residents’ needs and provided detailed feedback on potential options, including choices and trade-offs. Engagement methods included an online survey, two in-person open house events, six online focus group sessions. (Participation: 490 individuals)

You can review the results in an Infographic summarizing key findings or read the full Public Engagement Phase 2: What We Heard Report.