Windsor residents will be given the top priority when it comes to enrolling into city run programs.
At Monday's Windsor city council meeting, a notice of motion was presented by ward 4 councillor, Mark McKenzie, for those residing in Windsor to be given priority for applying to community programs.
The motion was approved by council and will be implemented within the next few months, which will give Windsor residents a 72 hour window to apply for the programs.
Following the 72 hours, those living in municipalities outside of Windsor will be given the opportunity to apply if spots are still available.
McKenzie says he wanted to implement this change as it is Windsor residents who subsidies the costs for the programs through their taxes.
He says it can become a fight to apply for programs.
"You're sitting online, and you're just hitting refresh waiting for that booking period, that registration period to open up. And if you don't get to it within the first few minutes, you may be out of luck. They fill up really, really fast. And it's a lot of non-Windsor residents who are taking these time slots."
McKenzie says after the 72 hours, those in other municipalities will have a chance to register.
"Other municipalities have implemented similar things but you have to pay extra for it, and what I'm saying is well, no, no paying extra, we pay enough taxes in Windsor right now so let's just prioritize those Windsor residents. They get the 72 hour prioritization and then after that 72 hours, residents of surrounding municipalities are able to book what's left."
He says there will be measures in place to ensure it's going to Windsor residents.
"You do have to enter your info, you know, your address, your phone number and all of that type of stuff. And so if you're not a Windsor resident, it won't give you access to register until after that 72 hour period. And if you're in person, you've got to show I.D."
McKenzie says it's too late to implement the change for fall registration period, but should be implemented by January 2024.
He says Windsor residents will notice a big difference when it comes to ice time, and swimming programs, as they are the two most popular programs in the city.
-with files from AM800's Rusty Thomson