Annual Report 1999

In order to meet the service needs of a growing population, York Region has been in the forefront of long-term planning and innovative service delivery. As the provider of essential municipal services, York Region must ensure it will meet the short-and long-term needs of growing communities.

The key to success is good planning, a clear mandate and a close working relationship with all community service stakeholders. York Region continues to be a leader in service delivery and is recognized across North America as an innovative and cost-effective service provider that consistently "delivers the goods".

Managing a Thriving Economy

An important sign that services are being delivered properly and that growth is being managed effectively is a thriving local economy. As the fastest growing part of the Greater Toronto Area, York Region continues to attract new residents and capital investment because of its vibrant communities, high standard of living, access to labour markets and wide range of community programs and services.

One sign of a vibrant economy is a thriving residential construction industry. In 1999, York Region led Canada in both the quantity of residential building permits issued (12,910) and the value of residential construction ($1.8 billion). In fact, York Region's building permit activity represented 31 per cent of all building permits issued across the Greater Toronto Area in 1999.

Job growth kept pace with population growth, as more and more companies relocated, expanded or started in York Region in 1999. Over the next 10 years, York Region is expected to grow by almost 250,000 residents and 190,000 jobs.

Municipal Benchmarking Exercise

In the private sector, the ultimate measure of a corporation's performance is profit.

In government, the ability to measure, manage and compare service delivery costs and quality (i.e. value) acts as a "proxy for profit".

York Region has been playing a leadership role in the Ontario municipal sector when it comes to measuring and comparing municipal service delivery.

The Municipal CAO's Benchmarking initiative, lead by York's Chief Administrative Officer, has developed a powerful 5-step methodology for comparing the cost and quality of roads, water, wastewater, solid waste management and land ambulance services across Ontario's large municipalities.

This exercise is generating "best practice" insights, improved service costing and quality measurement tools for municipal business planning - all important steps towards excellence in government.

The benchmarking process will continue to evolve and improve annually, leading to improved municipal management and public accountability.

York taxpayers are investing in a high quality, well maintained road network where asset quality is being protected.

When York assumes direct delivery of ambulance service, improvements in response time aimed at patient survivability will be considered in the Region's business planning process. The key will be to maintain high utilization of our fleet at the same time.

Focusing on "Human Services"

To ensure that the "human services" required by the future residents of York Region keep pace with growth, the Region launched an extensive public consultation exercise to develop a Human Services Strategy. Planning human services for future residents is a key component of the Region's growth management strategy and the Regional Official Plan.

Throughout 1999, a wide range of community stakeholders, such as social service agencies, school boards and hospitals were consulted. In total, about 1,000 providers of human services were identified in York Region and excellent progress was made in developing the Strategy. The final Report will be presented to Regional Council in September of 2000.

Protecting the Environment

A great deal of work was undertaken in 1999 to develop the Region's first-ever State of the Environment Report, which was scheduled for release in 2000. For the first time, detailed data about the state of the Region's air, water and soil conditions have been assembled into one document. The information will serve as the benchmark for future environment measurements.

A significant natural resource was purchased with the acquisition of the Baker Sugarbush in the City of Vaughan. The Region's $376,000 contribution was matched by both the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and the City of Vaughan, thereby preserving the 70-acre resource for future generations.

Through an extensive public consultation exercise, a Forest Management Plan was completed as the Region continued its management of the 5,000-acre Regional forest, located primarily in the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville.

The Region continued to play a leadership role in urging, in conjunction with neighbouring Regions, the Province to develop a long-term strategy for the Oak Ridges Moraine.

Ensuring the Safety of Children

The Region continued to be a strong advocate for and protector of children in 1999. When the Ontario Government was looking to develop a province-wide child care database system, it chose York Region's system as the prototype.

York Region was also honoured to be the only municipal government host for one of five Early Years Initiative pilot sites chosen by the Ontario Government. Arising from the Province's Early Years Report, the demonstration projects are designed to offer early development and parenting support for young children. Experts agree that the first few years of childhood development set a base for the learning ability, behaviour and health of a person.

A leader in child intervention services, the Community Services and Housing Department's Early Intervention Program for children with special needs won an award in 1999 from the Ontario Association for Infant Development. Only two out of 46 infant programs received the award.

Also, over 6,000 babies from across York Region were screened by the Health Services Department through the Healthy Babies/Healthy Children Program.