Community engagement plays an important role in what makes a municipality a welcoming, vibrant and inclusive place to live, work and enjoy. In Whitby, the Town values community engagement as an important part of how it works. That is why, on January 21, 2019 Whitby Town Council approved the Town’s first Community Engagement Strategy.

The new strategy – which was created based on the feedback of more than 400 residents, Town staff, and business and community leaders – aims to improve the way the Town engages residents in the decisions that impact them most. When launched later this spring, Whitby will be among the few municipalities in Ontario to have such a strategy to guide how, when and why it will engage with the community. 

Specifically, through its goals and objectives, the strategy will make the Town’s engagement more consistent, effective, easy and inclusive, while making investment in its engagement efforts a priority. In addition, an Action Plan and Tools will be created over the coming months to direct how the strategy will be implemented.

What does this mean? It means the Town is committed to listening to residents and businesses, such as those who replied to our online Community Engagement Strategy survey with comments like, “I want to feel that my voice has a place and is worth hearing,” and, “We want to feel heard and considered as part of Town processes.” Ultimately, the strategy will help the Town continue to develop and deliver quality programs and services that the community wants – now and for the future.

For more information, visit whitby.ca/communityengagement.