THUNDER BAY — The city is looking to the public to help inform its community safety and well-being plan.
On Wednesday, community members gathered at city hall to participate in the first of four engagement sessions, hosted by the city as part of its consultations for the provincially-mandated plan.
“We're looking to engage with people, to have conversations and spend that time with them,” said Louisa Costanzo, manager of community safety and well-being.
“It's a legislated plan through the Ontario government where municipalities hold the plan, but it actually is a community plan where we come together to look at our community and how we can make it a better place to live for everyone that's here through a collaborative effort,” she said.
City residents can expect to see a variety of local organizations at each event, Costanzo said.
“We want to create it like a pop-up, so it's very low barrier, but just having people come together,” she said.
The next engagement sessions are scheduled from 4 to 6 p.m. on August 27 at Minnesota Park, September 10 at Patterson Park, and September 17 at Dease Park.
In case of rain, the back-up location for all events will be the city hall lobby.
The process will culminate on Sept. 27 with a community safety and well-being forum at the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium, which will bring the public together to explore ideas, set priorities, and celebrate community actions.
“We will go through the data and then look at where we are, and then we will come back to the community to say this is what we've heard,” she said.
The information gathered from the community-based pop-up events will be used to formulate the new Community Safety and Well Being plan.
“The last version of our community safety and well-being plan was made during the pandemic, and there wasn't as much of a kind of outreach,” said Danielle Thom, a climate action specialist with Earth Care Thunder Bay.
“This time we're really trying to take a more community-based approach to get all that feedback and make a plan that's actually actionable, that makes people feel better about the community that we live in,” she said.
So far, community members have had positive feedback for the pop-up events, Thom said.
“I'm hearing a lot about wow, these programs exist, so it's kind of just reinforcing the fact that actually getting out and about and physically being places is impactful,” she said.
In a media release issued earlier this month, the city said it will continue engaging with residents, local organizations, and community partners throughout the rest of the year.
The city's new community safety and well-being plan is expected to be presented in March of 2026, Costanzo said.
An online survey will also be available, starting on Aug. 20, at www.thunderbay.ca/getinvolved.
