70+ in Brampton? The city is giving out free annual recreation passes

Durlabh Gill is retired but faces one of the same health problems lots of us do: he sits down too much.

Gill, 79, often sits for 10 hours a day while volunteering at a Sikh Temple. 

To stay in shape despite the long sitting, he comes to the Cassie Campbell Community Centre to walk on the treadmill for an hour every day. 

"At this age, we really need to exercise. If we sit all day, we'll be sick," he told CBC Toronto.

Soon, Gill's workouts at the city-run recreation centre will be free — just like they'll be for every other Brampton resident aged 70-plus. As of June 1, the City of Brampton announced seniors can register for a free annual pass to all of its recreational centres, which can cost more than $200.  

Here's what residents need to apply: 

A Brampton health advocacy group is welcoming the news. 

"It's going to help people live longer," Janine Herrmann-McLeod, co-chair of Brampton Caledon Health Coalition said, adding that her father will be using the free annual pass. 

The program will address social isolation as well as physical and mental health of seniors, which is often overlooked, Herrmann-McLeod says. 

"It will take pressure off of our healthcare system from the diseases that happen when people become sedentary from sitting at home alone all the time," she said.

Her father is just one of the 57,000 seniors who are elligible for the program. 

Coun. Rowena Santos said with rising affordability concerns, some of those residents had been sharing their struggles with the city about not being able to socialize and walk in parks during the winter months. 

"We're dealing with upstream health issues for many of these seniors and in many ways keeping them healthy and active also prevents them from being in the hospital all the time," Santos said. 

Savita Ramesh Shivani, 72, is retired and visits the Cassie Campbell Community Centre daily, hoping to make friends and remain healthy. With a free pass, she says it'll be easier for her to get some of her friends to join her.