Safe and Welcoming Community – Creating a Town for Everyone

Are Town Services Meeting Your Needs?

The Town of Halton Hills continues to work to ensure that Town programs and services are accessible and meet the needs of its growing and changing community. The “Safe and Welcoming Community” initiative aligns with and supports Council’s 2023–2026 Strategic Plan. It advances the vision of fostering a community where everyone feels welcomed, safe, and connected, and aligns with the mission to provide services that enhance residents' quality of life.

Safe and Welcoming Halton Hills is being developed in three interrelated phases:

Phase 1 - Safe and Welcoming Workplace (complete)

Focus on the Town of Halton Hills as an employer and workplace. The Town completed a comprehensive internal review of its policies, programs, and services to identify gaps and make recommendations to promote a respectful, engaging, diverse, resilient, and welcoming workplace that supports employee needs and well-being, resulting in the efficient and effective delivery of quality municipal services.

Phase 2 - Safe and Welcoming Community (in-progress)

Focus on the Town of Halton Hills as a provider of municipal services. This phase supports the strategic priority of creating Safe and Welcoming Communities by helping ensure that the Town’s programs, services, and facilities meet the community’s evolving needs. This phase includes a range of community engagement opportunities, including a survey, focus groups, pop-up booths, and interviews.

Phase 3 - Safe and Welcoming Halton Hills (2026)
Focus on creating an integrated and actionable plan, building on the findings and outcomes of phases 1 and 2.

At the end of phase 3, Safe and Welcoming Halton Hills will be a comprehensive, corporate-wide 5-year plan to build and support a safe, inclusive, welcoming, and engaging workplace where every person is respected and valued for their contributions and has equitable opportunities to develop and grow. It will ensure that Town programs and services are accessible and meet the needs of Halton Hills’ increasingly diverse communities. The plan will provide a roadmap, including an implementation plan, measurement framework, engagement and accountability plan, and identify resource impacts and needs to address current and future needs.

Community Engagement Opportunities

1. Safe and Welcoming Community Survey

This survey focuses on the delivery of Town Services to the community and includes two components:

• Your experience with Town Services. Do they meet your needs? Are there any gaps? Do you face any barriers in accessing Town Services, etc.

• Demographic questions – Such as neighbourhood of residence, race, age, and household income. This data will allow us to better understand whether experiences differ across various groups.

• Take the survey

2. Pop-up Booths - Come chat with us about this initiative and provide your input!

• June 12: Acton Outdoor Market, Prospect Park, 4 - 7 p.m.
• June 14: Downtown Georgetown Farmers Market, Main Street South, 8 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
  
  

3. Community Focus Groups - Sign up for a focus group to share your lived experiences INclusion INcorporated is seeking to engage with community members who are more likely to experience barriers to participating in municipal programs and civic activities. INclusion INcorporated will be facilitating five in-person and virtual focus groups.

• Indigenous and racialized persons - Virtual on June 24 from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
• Members of the disability community - Virtual on June 19 from 12 - 2 p.m.
• 2SLGBTQIA+ persons - Virtual on June 18 from 3 - 5 p.m.
• Persons who are unhoused, precariously housed, or who have been unhoused within the last five years - In-Person on June 12 from 8 - 10 a.m. at the Studio in the Halton Hills Library and Cultural Centre.
• Persons who identify as low income - In-Person on June 13 from 9 - 11 a.m. at the Studio in the Halton Hills Library and Cultural Centre
• Register for a focus group