Mayor's Monthly Newsletter - June 2026

You can check out details of the latest decisions and discussions at Whitby Council in the monthly Council Highlights.

The May 2026 Council Highlights include:

• Final report on Community Strategic Plan progress
• Temporary free parking program approved for Downtown Whitby
• Integrity commissioner appointed for upcoming Council term
• Hotel and Conference Centre Attraction Program expanded

Council Highlights are published following every regular Council meeting.

Coffee with Mayor Roy is back for Summer 2026! This is my fourth summer offering this popular event series.

I launched Coffee with Mayor Roy in 2023 to give residents an easy way to connect with me. Events are held at local coffee shops with a casual, drop-in format.  The number of Coffee with Mayor Roy events has increased every year, and in 2025 I expanded to include “Meet up with Mayor Roy events” to offer more hours and new locations.

I can’t wait for more great conversations this summer! A full list of dates and locations will be shared on my social media channels and in my July newsletter. 

Food insecurity continues to be a pressing issue in Whitby -- and communities across Ontario. We've recently seen an increase in need, and Councillor Niki Lundquist has responded by organizing the Great Whitby Food Drive from now until June 20. 

A donation bin is available at Whitby Town Hall outside the Mayor and Council Office. The goal is to fill the shelves of every food bank in Whitby. Drop-off locations are also available throughout the community -- you can find more details in this Facebook post. 

I continue to host regular roundtables with our local foodbank providers to better understand their challenges and collaborate on solutions. Through this work, the Town of Whitby partnered with Feed the Need to open The Market food bank at Iroquois Park Sports Centre in 2024 and expand its hours in 2025.

You can also help by donating food or funds directly to Feed the Need at  https://www.feedtheneedindurham.ca/ 

A full list of Whitby food banks can be found here: https://www.whitby.ca/media/3schayxz/food-bank-support-locations.pdf

On May 12, we celebrated the official groundbreaking for Whitby’s new Habitat for Humanity Project!

Habitat for Humanity GTA is building 46 affordable family homes in Downtown Whitby.

The Town of Whitby donated two pieces of land for this project, located at Hickory Street, north of Dunlop Street East and Gilbert Street, south of Dunlop Street East.

I’m also very proud to share that the Mayor’s Community Development Fund has announced a $25,000 grant to support the project.

The homes will be stacked townhouses with space between buildings and lots of greenery. Each home will have its own outdoor area, like a patio or rooftop terrace. There will also be shared landscaped spaces for everyone to enjoy.

The design includes accessible units and uses cost-effective building methods to keep homes affordable.

This is one of the strategies the Town of Whitby is using to increase the amount of housing in our community – as well as the affordability of housing.

Construction will start this year with move-in expected in 2028.

Habitat for Humanity GTA is working towards a fundraising goal of $7 million to support construction of this project. You can help by:

• Joining the Whitby Housing Action Committee to help raise awareness of the project and fundraise
• Making a one-time or monthly donation to the Whitby Build Project
• More information will be available in the coming months about how to volunteer as part of the build. Learn more at https://habitatgta.ca/whitby/

I’m thrilled that the Town of Whitby recently announced that a 60+ acre site has been secured for a future outdoor sports field complex! Located at Duffs Road and Brawley Road, the project will significantly expand field capacity for cricket, soccer and baseball as Whitby grows. This initiative reflects priorities in Whitby’s Community Strategic Plan, and Parks and Recreation Master Plan. 

The Town will develop the land through a multi-phase, multi-year approach. A draft site concept outlines how the space could be designed to meet community needs and builds on the feedback gathered through consultation for Whitby’s Parks and Recreation Master Plan. As the project moves forward, there will be additional community engagement to refine the design.

Learn more here: https://www.whitby.ca/news/posts/planning-for-growth-whitby-secures-60plus-hectares-for-future-sports-fields/

This is my quarterly round-up of official new business openings in Whitby. New to Whitby? Schedule your grand opening by contacting invest@whitby.ca

New businesses can also connect with the Downtown Whitby BIA and Whitby Chamber of Commerce.

A big Whitby welcome to:

• Port Whitby Marine Supplies, 170 Charles St.
• Reid’s Dairy, 1200 Rossland Rd. E.
• Rosie’s Burgers, 1525 Dundas St. E.
• XR Fit, 350 Taunton Rd. E. (inside LA Fitness)
• Prioritize Wellness, 131 Byron St. N.
• Marlene’s Beauty and Hair Studio, 368 Taunton Rd. E. (inside Wellings of Whitby)
• Park n Bark Pet Grooming, 114 Dundas St. W.
• Pulse Health and Fitness Studio, 5949 Baldwin St. S.
• Radiant Psychotherapy and Branching Out Psychotherapy, 14 Garrard Rd.
• Nani’s Gelato, 370 Taunton Rd. Unit 8
• Best Brains Whitby North, 701 Rossland Rd. E.
• Tait AI T.E.C.

In May, we celebrated the re-opening of Whitby’s new waterfront Visitor Centre! The Visitor Centre had a soft opening in fall 2025 and will now be open for its first full season. 

This is part of broader revitalization work at the waterfront that includes the Town Brewery pop-up, upgrades to the Waterfront Trail, and a new restaurant and culinary hub at the historic Rowe House. Improving the waterfront is a key focus of Whitby’s Community Strategic Plan. 

The Visitor Centre is located at Shirley Scott Park and is part of a tourism hub that includes seating, Indigenous art, photo ops, tourism information, and accessible docks for kayaks and paddleboards. New this summer, glow-in-the-dark kayak rentals will also be available!

The project was supported with funding from FedDev Ontario.

Following a motion that I brought forward to Council, Whitby’s Hotel and Conference Centre Attraction Program launched at the end of April. Attracting a hotel and conference centre has consistently been identified as a need by the community and is a priority in Whitby’s 2022–2026 Economic Development Strategy and Whitby’s Community Strategic Plan.

The attraction program supports two targeted opportunities: one hotel and conference centre, and one stand‑alone hotel. To help projects move from concept to construction, eligible developments can receive a deferral of the Town’s development charges for the first 24 months after building permits are issued. I’m thrilled to share that within a week of the program launching, we already have two applicants! This strong early response reflects growing market confidence in Whitby as we continue to support new investment, local business growth, and destination development.

On May 25, Whitby Council voted to expand the program to allow up to two applicants for each of the two opportunities.

I'm also pleased to share that, on May 27, Regional Council approved a time‑limited hotel development charge deferral program with the aim of attracting hotel development to Durham.

Wedding season is here, and it's always so heartwarming to see couples choose Whitby Town Hall to tie the knot.

I love this recent story shared by Lakeridge Health, about Vern and Nancy who met while volunteering at Lakeridge Health Oshawa and recently got married at Whitby Town Hall. 

Did you know you can book a civil marriage ceremony with the Town if you're looking for something simple and non-religious? Ceremonies are conducted by the Town Clerk or designate in Council Chambers and typically last about 15 minutes. 

Ceremonies are available on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., and 3 p.m.

Learn more about marriage licenses and civil marriage ceremonies here:

https://www.whitby.ca/services-and-payments/applications-licences-and-permits/marriage-licences-and-civil-marriage-ceremonies/

This monthly feature highlights fascinating people, places, and events from Whitby’s past, courtesy of local history buff Wade Szilagyi. He is the founder of the 24,000-member Vintage Whitby Facebook group and has supported heritage projects for the Town of Whitby as well as the Whitby and Brooklin Legion branches.

Did you know that in Whitby, reaching a milestone birthday once came with more than cake and candles -- it came with a medal? In a heartfelt tribute to longevity, our community awarded bronze medals to residents over 70, silver to those over 80, and gold to citizens who had reached the remarkable age of 90.

In 1991, at the Whitby Seniors' Activity Centre, now called Whitby 55+ Recreation Centre, one such moment was captured in a memorable photograph. Florence Adam proudly received her gold medal, marking her 90^th birthday, from Brian Winter, who was portraying Peter Perry -- Whitby’s first mayor and a significant figure in our early civic history. The event, aptly called “Celebration of Age,” was more than a ceremony; it was a public expression of gratitude for the generations who built and shaped our town.

These medals symbolized experience, resilience, and community spirit. They recognized lives rich with stories -- of wartime endurance, agricultural roots, harbour growth, and neighbourhoods that evolved from country roads to thriving streets.

One can only imagine how many medals would be presented if such a celebration were held today. With longer life expectancy and a growing population, the stage would be filled with gold, silver, and bronze honourees, each representing decades of contribution to our shared story.

Perhaps it is time to revisit this tradition. After all, in Whitby, age has always been something worth celebrating.

It’s the time of year when many residents have questions about grass cutting.

The Town of Whiby’s grass cutting program starts at the beginning of May, with the arrival of summer students, who account for about half of our seasonal staff. 

The Town is responsible for cutting over 1,100 acres of grass, which is the equivalent of about 4,400 average sized residential lawns.

How often grass is cut depends on how the space is used.  

Sports fields and other high-use areas are cut every seven days to support safety and community use.

High-profile parks and buildings are every eight days, while regular parks are every 16 days.

Neighbourhood boulevards are cut every 12 days for the first four cuts of spring, then every 16 days after that. 

The Town of Whitby does not use pesticides to control dandelions or other perennials in parks and along boulevards. This follows provincial regulations that ban the use of cosmetic pesticides and herbicides.

To learn more, visit https://www.whitby.ca/explore-and-enjoy/parks-and-recreation/grasscutting/

To report a grass cutting issue, visit whitby.ca/reportanissue 

This is my monthly shoutout to those who make us #WhitbyProud. If you know a person, group, or organization that has accomplished something noteworthy or is helping to make Whitby a better place, email follertj@whitby.ca

• Shout out to the residents of the Almond subdivision who completed their annual community clean-up in May, collecting 27 bags of garbage! Thank you for helping to keep Whitby beautiful.
• A huge thank you to the Whitby Scouts youth and leaders who planted hundreds of trees at College Downs Park on May 2 for the 52nd annual Scoutrees event. The Town of Whitby supports this initiative by providing trees and planting locations -- and our local Scouts work incredibly hard to get them planted.
• We’re #WhitbyProud of the Rotary Club of Whitby Sunrise for making a generous $2,500 donation to support the Town of Whitby’s Junior Fire Camp this summer. Thank you for helping to create memorable experiences for local kids!

Rosie’s Burgers celebrated its Whitby grand opening on April 11 and is located at 1525 Dundas St. E. 

This is a neighbourhood burger shop serving up nostalgic flavours, from smashburgers and French fries, to strawberry shakes and onion rings.

Rosie’s was founded in 2020 by brothers Daniel and Dustin Gelman through a shared passion for good food and warm hospitality. Inspired by the simplicity of the classic diner, and nostalgic for a time when burgers and fries were just that -- uncomplicated and effortlessly delicious. The business is named after their grandmother, a woman with an incredible ability for making anyone in her presence feel at home, Rosie’s is a nod to the enduring tradition of genuine hospitality.

At Rosie’s Burgers Whitby, that same philosophy carries through -- from carefully sourced, high-quality ingredients to a menu that focuses on doing a few things exceptionally well. It’s about creating a place where guests can count on consistency, flavour, and a welcoming atmosphere every time they visit.

Learn more at  https://rosiesburgers.ca/

Now entering its 24th season, The Travelling Stage was born from a very personal vision, inspired by the childhood of founding director Toni Grates, who grew up in an area that relied on mobile services to introduce children to ideas and experiences outside their immediate surroundings. That "seed" -- the idea that inspiration should be able to travel to where it’s needed most, has grown into an organization that serves millions today. Through arts education, The Travelling Stage team creates a space where young people feel safe to take risks and build the kind of self-confidence that stays with them long after the curtain falls.

The scale of the organization’s reach is vast; this past year alone, The Travelling Stage facilitated programming for over five million children, with a portfolio of partners including Girl Guides Canada, YMCA, BGC, Durham Down Syndrome Association, Mirvish Productions, Mini Pop Kids, Jays Care Foundation, over 50 school boards and many Montessori and childcare centres. The commitment to outreach also extends to 22 Indigenous communities across the Northwest Territories, including plans to head to Fort Smith NWT this summer to engage the entire community through theatre arts.

The heart of The Travelling Stage’s operation can be found in Durham Region, home to two studio locations designed to make the arts more accessible. The Whitby studio, currently in residence at the Abilities Centre, utilizes specialized theatre and music spaces to provide enriching experiences for participants of all abilities. This partnership highlights the power of the arts to promote well-being and build lasting relationships in a fully inclusive environment. Alongside the Bowmanville location (opening in September 2026), these studios serve as vibrant hubs for artistic exploration and high-quality theatre training.

This summer, The Travelling Stage is offering a free musical theatre program to children ages 6 to 12 who live at the Lakeview Housing Community in south Oshawa and face barrier to arts education.

A new mobile program for seniors will also launch this fall. "Silver Stage" is an arts residency that brings the magic of the theatre to senior living. By integrating music, mindfulness, movement and collaborative play, it aims to improve emotional well-being and cognitive function, providing a platform for seniors to rediscover old passions or find entirely new ones.

The Travelling Stage is the proud recipient of the 2025 IDEA Award from the Whitby Chamber of Commerce, celebrating its commitment to inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility.

Through a curriculum that balances technical expertise with pure fun, The Travelling Stage remains a cornerstone of Whitby’s cultural and educational landscape with a mission to help children (and adults!) find their voice, take up space and be exactly who they are.

Learn more at www.travellingstage.com and www.travellingstagestudio.com or email info@travellingstage.com

• The Brooklin Farmer’s Market opens for the 2026 season on June 13 Learn more at whitbyfarmersmarket.ca
• The Brooklin Spring Fair Parade takes place June 6 at 10:30 a.m. along Baldwin Street. Organized by the B.A.M Lion’s Club, the parade is a longstanding tradition. Visit brooklinspringfair.com/attractions/parade for information including the parade route.
• The annual Durham Pride Parade is June 6 in Ajax, traveling along Harwood Avenue between the Ajax Community Centre and Ajax Town Hall. Visit https://www.pridedurham.ca/ for details.
• The 114th annual Brooklin Spring Fair takes place from June 4 to 7 with attractions, live music, competitions, homecraft, food, midway rides and games – and more! Visit brooklinspringfair.com for details and a full schedule.
• The Town of Whitby is hosting two free FIFA World Cup watch parties for all ages! Join us to cheer on Canada! Game 1: Canada vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 12, 2–6 p.m. at Civic Park, 575 Rossland Rd. (behind Town Hall) Game 2: Canada vs. Qatar on June 18, 5–9 p.m. at Whitby Soccer Dome, 695 Rossland Rd. Hosted in partnership with Whitby FC
• The Town of Whitby presents a Culture Pop-Up event for National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 17 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Rotary Sunrise Lake Park. Enjoy Come storytelling, drumming and dancing that celebrate the unique heritage and culture of Indigenous People. 
• The annual Youth Pride Durham event is June 13 from 1 to 4 p.m. at Region of Durham Headquarters, 605 Rossland Rd. E. in Whitby. The free event includes music, live performances, face painting, popcorn and cotton candy, as well as community organizations sharing support and resources. Learn more at https://yourvoice.durham.ca/youth-pride-durham
• The Town of Whitby’s annual Sounds of Summer music series kicks off this month! Enjoy live music Tuesday evenings from 7 to 8 p.m. at Celebration Square, 405 Dundas St. E., and Thursday evenings from 7 to 8 p.m. at Grass Park, 41 Baldwin St. in Brooklin.
• The Town of Whitby’s Culture Pop-Up Series returns for Summer 2026! The first event is Rhythms of Africa on June 24 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Rotary Sunrise Lake Park at 269 Water St. (North of the Lighthouse Pier). Join Fit and Dance Dimensions for performances, interactive dance sessions, and freeform dance jams.

Did you know there are two ways to subscribe to my monthly newsletter? Go to whitby.ca/subscribe to receive an email notification each month when the newsletter is published on whitby.ca -- or click here to subscribe via Constant Contact and get the newsletter right to your inbox.

Here’s a sneak peek of what’s coming up in my July newsletter:

• More exciting summer events in Whitby including outdoor movie nights and the second annual Home Sweet Home Festival
• Coffee with Mayor Roy summer 2026 details
• Council Highlights from the final Council meeting of the 2022-2026 term