The 4th Canadian Division Training Centre (4CDTC) in Meaford has reopened its gym and sports facilities to the community.
People who live in the area, military families and staff can all use the fitness gym or gymnasiums now.
Commanding Officer of the 4CDTC LCol. Joe Tobin, tells Bayshore Broadcasting News, before the Covid-19 pandemic, the gym had been open for public use.
“We had well over 100 members of the community with no affiliation with the military who would come up and use the facilities on a very regular basis,” says Tobin, noting people in the community have been eager to get back into the gym.
He says hours for public use will begin a little later in the morning, explaining “Because we’re a military base and our facilities up here are great, and we want to make sure that we give the community opportunity to use them but, they’re primarily for military fitness training.” From 5:30 a.m. until 10a.m. the facilities are reserved for military use.
He adds, “We’re servicing three distinct cohorts of people on the base that need to have access to it for their physical training and then we open up to broader community use from 10 a.m. until close.” The gym is open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays
Tobin says they have some world class equipment in the gym, “We’ve got a great weight room, lots of free-weights, lots of nautilus machines.” He says they also have plenty of cardio equipment, treadmills, ellipticals and stair masters. They have two gymnasiums that gym members can use for sports and recreation and there is floor hockey equipment, basketballs and other equipment.
The facilities can also be rented by community organizations through a separate process.
Tobin adds, if there is demand in the community for use of a baseball diamond or a soccer field that could be looked into as well, “I’ve invited the municipality to send up some of their folks to have a look and see if it’s something that they would be interested in using as well, to help increase the community programming that’s available here.”
Tobin says the gate is staffed at the training centre and they can direct you to where you want to go.
Membership rates vary from free of charge for military members and veterans, to $40/month for first responders and base employees, to $50 for people in the broader community. There are also family rates, 6 month rates and 12 month rates. There are no drop-in rates.
To speak to someone about booking part of the facilities, you can reach out to the Operations Officer 519-538-1371 ext 2606818
Meanwhile, Tobin also plans to conduct a Freedom of the City Parade in Meaford on July 18th 2025, and an open house at the base on July 19th. He explains the Freedom of The City Parade is a tradition that demonstrates a relationship of trust. “It harkens back to the days when military units were not allowed into walled cities,” says Tobin, adding, ” If you think back to the time of the Romans, typically, when there was an army that was approaching your city they weren’t necessarily always there with the best of intentions and so armies weren’t trusted to come into the city bearing arms. They had to be camped out of walled cities.” He notes they would only be allowed in unarmed and not in large numbers. “So the tradition that we have now is that when a unit has earned the trust of the community, they’re given permission to exercise the Freedom of the City. Specifically they’re allowed to march through the streets of that city with their colours flying, with bayonets fixed to their weapons, their drums beating. It’s really an important military tradition that shows the relationship between a community and a military unit that lives there.” He says it was first bestowed on the unit in Meaford in the 1990s, and the parade isn’t done often.
The open house the following day will include tours through the range and training area.
“It will be just a nice opportunity to bring our neighbours up here show them what they’re living around and the kind of stuff that we’re doing up here,” says Tobin.