The City of Burnaby is celebrating the launch of a new registration system expected to provide a "much-improved user experience" for parents signing their kids up for swimming lessons and other classes.
Hundreds of Burnaby parents lined up for hours last March at community centres around the city, in an attempt to register their kids for coveted recreation programs.
Parents said the old web system and phone lines would crash before registration even started. Some took the day off from work for the chance to get their kids signed up.
The city says the new online system, WebReg, "makes it easier for Burnaby residents to view, find and register for the wide variety of recreation, arts and culture activities offered by the city," according to a press release.
"It's great to see that people found registration much more user-friendly this time, and I look forward to more initiatives like this that improve our customer service," said Mayor Mike Hurley in the release. "I know there was a lot of work behind the scenes to ensure a successful transition and that this fall registration went as smoothly as possible."
Mary Morrison-Clark, the city's parks and rec general manager, told the NOW in March getting the new system running was her department's number 1 priority after the March registration period saw a "completely unacceptable level of customer service."
The city says Burnaby residents signed up for more than 4,700 activities this fall, with nearly 20,000 registrations processed through the WebReg platform.
Eighty-five per cent of all the bookings were completed online.
One of the most popular activities is swimming: in the first minute of activities being open, there were 1,300 registrations.
The city is running an "extensive recruitment campaign" to hire more staff, including in-demand swim instructors.
You can find multiple instructional videos and an FAQ for the new WebReg system, including how to sign up or re-activate your account, on the city's website.
📢 SOUND OFF: How has your experience been with the new registration system? What kinds of programs or activities would you like the city to offer? Share your thoughts — send us a letter.
