Growing Civic Participation

There are many pre-existing plans, policies and pieces of legislation that guide our work. Many of these pieces had already come before the community for consultation, and that earlier engagement got us to this point. Let's connect those dots for you.

Growing civic participation across the community supports our strategic plan; Guelph. Future ready. with it's vision of an inclusive, connected, prosperous city where we look after each other and our environment.

• All of the strategic pillars are impacted through better civic participation, but this work falls strongly under working together for our future, a modern government that works with us.

Community Engagement is guided by our Community engagement framework (2015) which is currently under review as part of this project.

• In this review we heard from that relationship development is important to get people more and more deeply engaged, that we should meet people where they are, so we are asking people to recommend places in this project, and we should do a better job of reporting back and connecting the dots between projects and where decisions were already made - so that’s why you are seeing this section ion our website in the first place.

Council and Committee involvement has long-standing traditions, legislation and policies guiding their work. In this project we are looking at meeting scheduling, ways of attending and the process for participating.

• In 2015 we looked at the meeting management system for council and asked the community, staff and council about ways to improve access to council, Improving the usability and quality of feedback shared with council and agenda and report publication timing. This project revisits some of our earlier findings and takes it a step further with a lens to equity.

And finally, the approach to bring both legislative (council and committee) and community engagement participation together in this project is a result our One City, One Voice, Shared Purpose approach to improve and increase two-way, audience-centric communications and engagement outside of predetermined corporate structures.

• In this work we learned about the importance of removing silos at the City of Guelph and taking a step back to see the City structures through the eyes of the community and act and share information accordingly.

Limitations

There are some limitations to changes we can make in Council and advisory committee activities. The following legislation, by-law and policy outline the structure of those groups and meetings. Any changes we do make must work within or complement these documents

• The Ontario Municipal Act, 2001, S.O. 2001, c 25
• The City of Guelph Procedural By-law, 2021 (number 20649)
• Various Advisory Committee policies and procedures

We value your feedback and your involvement in all decisions and planning here at the City of Guelph.

There are lots of ways to get involved and make an impact already. These are just a few options:

• Find out about Community Engagement Activities
  • Follow the City of Guelph Social media account or read the City News Section of the Guelph Mercury Tribune to stay current on our projects.
  • Visit Haveyoursay.guelph.ca to find projects that are open for you feedback right now.
    • You can complete surveys, share ideas, and add to the conversation online, we also post available workshops, working groups and information session information on all our projects where you can participate either online or in person.
      • You can participate anonymously,
      • You can also sign up as a registered user or click to "follow" a project to join our mailing list for monthly newsletters
• Contact your councillors with ideas or feedback
  • Many councillors also have a social media presence or regular newsletter to follow. reach out to them to learn about opportunities each councillor offers for sharing information and feedback with them.
  • Not sure who your councillor is? Refer to the ward map. Two councilors will represent your ward.
• Watch or participate at Council meetings
  • Check out the Council meeting schedule
    • Click on the calendar entry to check agendas in advance to learn what they will be discussing.
    • Everyone is invited
  • Tell us your thoughts on an agenda item in front of Council
    • Send written comments in advance to clerks@guelph.ca
    • Register to speak or delegate at Council on an agenda item
• Make a more committed and ongoing impact on your community
  • Join a working group (Watch projects on Have Your Say for opportunities)
  • Serve on a board or advisory committee in your field of interest
  • Run for Council at the next election in 2026

Want to make an impact in a different way? consider volunteering for City programs.