Community Safety and Well-Being Plan
The Community Safety and Well-Being Plan for York Region is a long-term tool with the goal of enhancing safety and well-being through proactive, targeted, and community-driven actions. Its place-based approach puts communities that can benefit most at the heart of planning and builds their capacity to identify and respond locally to priority risks in their communities.
The Plan was developed in consultation with residents, community organizations, local municipalities, York Regional Police and other stakeholders. Six strategic objectives form the framework for the Plan, supporting key activities and local actions that steer the Plan towards achieving its goal of enhancing safety and well-being. Through Community Action Tables and other collaborative initiatives, the Plan brings partners together, strengthens community capacity to lead, leverages data and existing community strengths, prioritizes preventative initiatives, and bridges gaps where they exist.
York Region plays a key stewardship role to work with partners to implement the Plan, build on success, attract funding to resource actions, coordinate advice from the Human Services Planning Board of York Region (HSPB), monitor Plan progress and report to relevant stakeholders as required.
Place-Based Approach
The plan focuses on communities that can benefit the most, leverages and enhances community assets, and strengthens local capacity to drive change. It will target top opportunities for action, including improving mental well-being, and housing and economic stability.
Over 700 York Region residents and stakeholders were consulted through community consultations and surveys to inform development of the Plan. Their input helped clarify the top-two risk factors facing four focus areas:
- Northern Georgina – Mental well-being and economic stability
- South-central Markham – Mental well-being and housing stability
- Central Newmarket – Mental well-being and housing stability
- South-central Richmond Hill – Mental well-being and housing stability
We will use evidence from data and community surveys, supported by consultations with community partners, to inform consideration of new focus areas in future iterations of the Plan.
Community Action Tables
Community Action Tables (CATs) in each of the four focus areas were established to inform development of the Plan and provide the infrastructure to enhance community capacity to identify and respond locally to the kinds of challenges that impact safety and well-being. CATs are community-driven collaboration tables that meet regularly to develop targeted strategies that reflect community needs and address specific service gaps.
Each table is comprised of a broad range of stakeholders – residents, service providers, grassroots groups, York Regional Police representatives, school boards, municipal and regional government representatives and local funders.
Each CAT’s respective local action plan is included in the appendices of the Community Safety and Well-Being Plan for York Region.
Please see How to get involved to connect with a community action table.
Alignment with existing Regional Initiatives
The Plan will directly support the Region’s efforts in achieving its vision of strong, caring and safe communities. It supports the Vision 2051 goal that "York Region’s diverse population can thrive in an environment that fosters healthy living; is safe, accessible, inclusive and supportive," and York Region’s 2019 to 2023 Strategic Plan priority to “support community health, safety and well-being."
This work provides an opportunity to build on Regional initiatives through the development of targeted actions – including York Region’s 10-year Housing and Homelessness Plan, Housing Solutions: A Place for Everyone, York Region Economic Development Action Plan: 2020 to 2023, The Inclusion Charter for York Region and York Regional Police Business Plan 2020-2022 – that reflect local context and address community-level gaps.
How to get involved
If you live or work in one of the four focus areas and would like to share your ideas with your local Community Action Table to help set priorities, plan activities and take action to improve your community, connect with the representative in your area:
Northern Georgina
Niv Balachandran
@email
South-Central Markham
Jen Fabico
@email
Central Newmarket
Shauna Eisen
@email
South-Central Richmond Hill
Shauna Eisen
@email
For other questions about the Community Safety and Well-being Plan for York Region, please email [email protected]
