1 Jim Flaherty St, Whitby, ON L1N 0J2, Canada
Abilities Centre is a not-for-profit community organization where people of all ages and abilities engage in social, health and cultural programs.
Reviews from Jiu-Jitsu Blog members who have trained at Abilities Centre. Member recommendations raise an academy's Jiu-Jitsu Blog Score.
Nice to know we have this indoor oval running/walking track in Whitby. Prices are fair because there’s a lot of workout equipments such as treadmills, stairmasters, stationery bikes, weights bars, pull up bar stations, and many more athletic tools if you wanted to avail the all-inclusive membership. This place is not only for working out but also for improving mobility or for physical therapy. There are milder exercise stations inside and they even have a massage therapy place. Whitby’s Abilities Centre also offers personal, pair, and group trainings through your membership. There’s a lot of fun fitness classes like Tai Chi, strength conditioning and even Pilates every once in a while if you’re a member. Staff are attentive and monitor the space every once in a while!
Went to attend a birthday party at one of their party rooms. Clean facility and accessible. Will surely inquire about their programs.
Posted 10 months ago
Excellent place for all kinds of sports, great infrastructure with a variety of activities that can be done here. Loved the vibe.
Such a state-of-the-art building and facilities. My daughter loves attending her program there.. Such caring Staff. It's nice to know there are programs out there for people with special needs in Durham.
Posted 3 years ago
Updated on November 25, 2025 About two weeks after leaving this review the Abilities Center reached out to my family sincerely apologizing for the situation. I really like that this organization cares enough to try to keep their community satisfied and/or to fix mistakes. I intend to give the organization a second chance. Original Review First impression of this place left a bad taste in my mouth. Not a good look lying to people. Called to ask about registering my daughter in an event that was 14+. She's a month away from being 14, they said that I could register her and they would make sure the event portal would allow a 13 year old to register even with the event being 14+. I couldn't register for the event and it's now sold out. When I called it would have been very easy to say sorry but we can't make any exceptions. I have a very upset daughter and nothing planned on an upcoming PA day. Also can't put her on a wait list due to age. Very disappointing and makes me not trust this organization.
Posted 11 months ago
I’ve been a member here for years, using the field house for cardio and weights. However, I’m now almost $60.00 a month and the hours are brutal. It closes at 3:00 p.m.on weekends and I’ve lost count of how many times this year they’ve closed either the entire facility or the field house for one thing or another. Holidays/snow/awards etc. I pay over $700 a year to use the gym, it should be more convenient to actually use.
Nice place when it’s open, but they’re always closing it for private events, especially on weekends - if you pay a yearly membership access is limited Classes are often overflowing and not enough room Seems to be very poorly managed with members given poor consideration
Posted 11 months ago
Edited, Sept 23, 2026: I spoke to the library, which loans out the passes, and it turns out the Abilities Centre has been spoken with multiple times about this issue. The pass is definitely not only for first-time or one-time-ever use. However, people who borrow and try to use the pass keep being turned away. The problem lies somewhere with staff/communication. I find this unsurprising as no one has ever replied to my two emails about my experience, sent to services@abilitiescentre.org Original post: The Abilities Centre is a beautiful facility. My experience, visiting three times, over the past two years has been highly disappointing due to recurring service and communication issues. During two separate visits, front desk staff were completely unfamiliar with the Centre's partnered free access passes. The first instance resulted in delays that caused me to miss the class, and the most recent encounter involved a rude and unprofessional employee who turned me away after 15 minutes, choosing to not honour the pass at all. Additionally, communication regarding schedule changes has been poor; a class was cancelled due to weather without any notice on social media or a return call to my voicemail checking for that. I would prefer to resolve customer service issues directly, but the Centre has not responded to the two emails I sent on July 20 and July 22 requesting a follow-up. I hope management will invest in better staff training and communication protocols so that the facility's service matches the quality of its building.
The Abilities Centre was built because of the compassion and vision of the late James Michael Flaherty, Canada’s federal Minister of Finance from 2006 to 2014 under Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper. His dream was beautiful and pure: a Centre where children and adults with disabilities could build friendships upstairs, grow stronger downstairs, and finally feel like we belonged. He wanted a place where we were treated with dignity, respect, and the chance to build a real community. But over the years — especially after 2015 — the heart of the Centre began to change. The boardroom leadership let go of a kind-hearted supervisor who truly cared about us, and later they came after the caring trainers and supportive staff who made the Centre feel like home. Disability programs disappeared, friendship and life-skills classes were reduced, and the people who made us feel welcome were fired. The upstairs rooms that were meant for disability programs were increasingly rented out instead. It became harder for disability kids and adults to feel heard, because the boardroom leadership grew too proud to speak with us or listen to our needs. This is not the dream that James Michael Flaherty left behind. His legacy was about dignity, friendship, inclusion, and opportunity for every person with a disability. He wanted a Centre built on love and acceptance — not pride and profit. I hope one day his original vision is restored.
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