Shared Use Agreements and Neighbourhood Learning Centres

In collaboration with the Ministry of Education, the Schools Protection Program has developed a series of materials which are designed to assist school districts interested in developing Neighbourhood Learning Centres in the communities they serve by means of shared use agreements. 

A shared use agreement is a legally binding agreement between a school district and another organization or individual that details the conditions for sharing the use and potential development of facilities.  Shared use agreements formalize the understanding between all parties involved in shared use. They specify the responsibilities of all parties and manage the risk associated with use of the facility.

Click here to access general guidelines and considerations for the development of shared use agreements.

A user agreement is designed to cover casual rentals, where a community group or member is accessing a part of the school for a specific purpose.  This is the most straightforward agreement and is designed to support easy access to school facilities. Examples include:

• Local youth sports club hiring out a school hall for its annual awards night;
• Seniors club using the school gymnasium for exercise class 2 nights per week for a 6 month period;
• Local gardening club requiring space to hold a spring plant sale. 

Click here to access a checklist designed to assist in the development of user agreements.

Click here for MS Word format or here for pdf format to access a sample user agreement.

License agreements are recommended for on-going use of a portion of a facility over a period of months or years, generally for a specific purpose.   Examples include:

• Daycare operator using classroom and playground space on an ongoing basis;
• Local health authority using  unused classroom space for a permanent public health nursing station for the local community.

Click here to access a checklist designed to assist in the development of license agreements.

Shared Use Agreements are more complex in nature than either a user or a license agreement. In this type of agreement, partners are typically sharing use of an existing facility. The facilty may be owned by one of the partners, be under shared ownership, or more than one facility can be involved for reciprocal use.  Examples include:

• An agreement between a school and community recreation centre for use of a school field by the community in non-school hours in exchange for upgrading and maintenance of the field;
• The school district and the recreation centre providing  access to each others’ facilities (e.g., recreation providing use of their pool in exchange for use of a school gymnasium).

Click here to access a checklist designed to assist in the development of shared use agreements.