PDSB and Bolton Pole Vault partner to bring track and field Facility to Humberview

November 13, 2025 · 0 Comments

By Riley Murphy

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Peel District School Board (PDSB) and Bolton Pole Vault have entered into a partnership for the construction and operation of a new indoor track and field facility at Humberview Secondary School.

PDSB is providing the land for the facility at Humberview Secondary School, and Bolton Pole Vault is funding both construction and ongoing maintenance, with no fees charged to students during the school’s use of the facility.

The facility is planned to include indoor training and competition facilities for track and field events such as pole vault, high jump, long jump, triple jump, shot put, and a 60-metre sprint straightaway.

The Centre will also feature an Olympic-grade weight room and support spaces for athletes, including therapy rooms, classrooms, and an athlete’s lounge.

During school hours, PDSB will have access to the facility, and students will be able to use all amenities as part of their physical education classes and extracurricular programs.

Outside of school hours, Bolton Pole Vault will use the facility to train track and field athletes.

The facility will also be open to the public for track and field through programming and

rentals.

This project is staying close to home, as Bolton Pole Vault has been using the existing track and field facility at Humberview for the past 12 years.

Bolton Pole Vault plans to host open houses, workshops, and youth outreach programs to encourage community engagement and introduce track and field to new athletes.

In the future, the facility is designed to accommodate regional, provincial, and national competitions.

Doug Wood, who not only competed for Canada at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in the pole vault but also coaches and launched Bolton Pole Vault, is spearheading this project.

He shares that they have been talking about this project for a long time.

Initially, he says they were considering building the facility on the current outdoor training facility they use now. It wasn’t until he discussed the plans with Stan Cameron, Trustee for Caledon Peel District School Board, and other PDSB staff that they presented the partnership opportunity to build it on school property.

“It absolutely serves the entire community significantly better, and helps to solve the facility shortage in Southwestern Ontario,” says Wood. “It’s a first step for sure.”

Wood says that since 1979, there has not truly been any additional track and field infrastructure added in the Golden Horseshoe of Southern Ontario, yet the population has tripled.

He shares that they’re constantly working in overcrowded spaces or tired facilities.

Wood says their new facility would better suit their preparation for the athletes and alleviate some of the overcrowding in surrounding facilities.

“It amazes me that we were able to do what we did,” says Wood. “We’ve had some very, very poor facilities, but it’s better than nothing. What we’re trying to do is no longer be a structure for just survival, but something that serves the athletes and tries to give them at least some facility that makes them feel like this is serious, and makes them feel like this has meaning.”

He shares that the facility’s location is “priceless” because it ties two high schools together and already features an outdoor track.

Through the partnership with PDSB, Wood does not have to pay development charges or property taxes.

“These are huge benefits to the longevity and the operational and the startup cost,” he says.

“We hope at 3 o’clock every day, this place is teeming with youth, teeming with athletes, kids learning track and field and staying off their phones and getting out of their houses. With that kind of grassroots development, this place will produce Olympic athletes, without a doubt.”

PDSB will also offer modified education plans and allow planning and programming to have opportunities for the students to have high-performance coaching for the afternoon before they leave for the day.

“We’ll do high-performance coaching for Olympics in the morning, high-performance high school in the afternoon, and then after school it’s clubs, junior development, and grassroots,” explains Wood.

“I shake my head every day with this because people are driven away from our sport because we don’t have any place to do it,” says Wood.

He also shares that he looks forward to having a place where they can “set up roots” and not have to move around, as well as introduce the ability to run programs in their own space.

The biggest hurdle they are facing right now is securing $10 million in funding; they hope to raise it 100 per cent themselves.

Wood shares that they are currently selling tables for their gala in February to help raise funds.

The gala will feature Canadian Olympic athletes, fine dining, and a silent auction.

Cameron shares that when he and members of their physical planning committee and planning department met Wood at the current pole vault site beside Humberview Secondary School, Cameron says he “jumped” at the chance upon seeing the plans.

“There’s no negatives to this story,” says Cameron.

He shares that this partnership could create opportunities not only for Peel District School Board students, but also for the community and for athletes at all levels.

“Nowhere in Canada does this specific kind of partnership exist,” he says. “It’s a win, win, win situation all around, and we want to be a part of it.”

“From my standpoint, I believe we’re very proud to partner with this amazing local pole vault club where we’ll have a user agreement and a maintenance agreement that’s really between just two parties, the Peel District School Board and the Bolton Pole Vault Club,” says Cameron. “A high-performance center that can only bring good things to our community, to our students and to our high-performance athletes.”

Cameron says this facility is all about the possibilities and opportunities, whether for current students who can’t wait to see what they can achieve, or for students who will want to come to Humberview to experience world-class track and field.

“I’m really excited for our community because of opportunities they may not otherwise have had. I think about people in our community who sometimes have to go out of our community to get those opportunities somewhere else,” he says. “Now you won’t have to; you can stay here and you could be a part of an amazing club moving forward, including starting from a very young age.”

Construction is expected to begin in early 2026, with completion planned for 2027, which as Cameron shares, is just in time to support Canada’s preparations for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

“Can you imagine kids in our community knowing there are world class Olympic athletes among us who are practicing inside that building every day?”

“I really like the whole Humberview picture because it’s more than just athletics,” adds Cameron. “It does not matter how you learn, this is the school for you.”

Cameron explains how Humberview offers something for everyone, whether that’s science and technology, specialist high skills majors, or their new DREAM program, Design, Robotics, Engineering, and Advanced Manufacturing.

“It does not matter how you learn,” he says. “It really encompasses a wide range of academic and athletic attractions.”

“There’s real excitement in the school for the athletic teams and this new building that’s going to be such a wonderful addition,” adds Cameron. “I’m really pleased that it’s a two-party partnership and that we, PDSB, are one of those two parties.”