Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan
The Waterloo Region Community Safety and Wellbeing Framework Building a safe and well community for all: A journey towards transformational change was approved by Regional Council on January 26, 2022. This emerging framework has been a collaborative process to listen to the voices of many across our community, and to use those voices to create a framework for action and change. Building on the good work already underway in our community, this framework supports the goal of enabling every person who calls Waterloo Region home to feel safe, to feel like they are cared for, and to have the opportunity to thrive.
Please stay tuned for updates, as while this framework serves as the foundation for the process, there will continual chances to include more voices and for the community to collaborate and work together to build a bright future. You can also sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date on what’s happening with the plan and to get information on upcoming community events related to safety and wellbeing.
Updates below include highlights and progress the community is making on actioning the Community Safety and Wellbeing Framework.
| 2024 and onwards |
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Developing a governance model to support implementation of the framework, including:
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| 2023 |
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The development of the framework
| Community engagement and outreach | ||||||
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During the pandemic, unprecedented engagement with a diverse group of community partners, including the Region’s Anti-Racism Advisory Working Group, led to better vaccine outcomes in priority neighbourhoods. At the Region, we saw the impact of spending more time listening and making decisions with the community. This will be our way of working going forward. Our vision for developing the framework was to hear from community leaders, organizations and groups and engage in greater collaboration to build the framework for a safe and well community. We wanted to engage in ways that are meaningful, including focus groups and one-on-one conversations. The focus of this engagement was on equity and amplifying Black, Indigenous, racialized, and marginalized voices. This approach emphasized listening to the community's wisdom, experience, and suggestions as we had meaningful conversations on previous engagements, calls to action, reports, and data to inform priorities. The goal was to develop a common understanding of safety and wellbeing that incorporates all voices, and to create shared values and outcomes. |
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| Committees | ||||||
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Three committees with diverse representation across the community oversaw the development of this plan. The makeup of the committees included local leaders, representatives from area municipalities, as well as representation from the Region's Anti-Racism Advisory Committee and Indigenous and community organizations that are focused on wellbeing.
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| Timeline | ||||||
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| Reports | ||||||
For more information contact:
Connie MacDonald
Chief Strategy and Communications Officer
ConMacDonald@regionofwaterloo.ca
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