Community Safety and Well-Being Planning Provincial Mandate:
On 1 January 2019, new legislative amendments to the Police Services Act, 1990, came into effect. The Act mandates that municipalities prepare and adopt Community Safety and Well-Being Plans. These plans are to take a wholistic approach to reduce harm and victimization for all members of the community, and to decrease the upward trends in demand for, and costs of, incident responses.
Municipalities are required to work with community partners and carry out consultations during the planning process. The first plan must be prepared and adopted by 1 January 2021.
Update: On 24 April 2020, municipalities received a letter from The Honourable Sylvia Jones, Solicitor General. This communication was provided to inform municipalities that, ‘on 14 April 2020, the government passed the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Support and Protection Act, 2020, which amended the PSA to allow the Solicitor General to prescribe a new deadline for the completion and adoption of CSWB Plans past 1 January 2021. The new deadline is being explored with AMO, as well as the City of Toronto, and shall be set by regulation at a later date.’
The following information identifies the provincial requirements for the planning process.
Provincial Requirements
The requirements relating to community safety and well-being planning include:
- The establishment of a multi-sector Advisory Committee including representatives from, but not limited to:
- Health/Mental Health Services
- Educational Services
- Community/Social Services
- Community/Social Services to Children or Youth
- Custodial Services to Children or Youth
- Municipal Council Member or Municipal Employee
- Representative of the Police Services Board or a Detachment Commander (or delegate)
- Conducting consultations with the Advisory Committee, members of the public including youth, seniors, members of racialized groups and of First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities, as well as community organizations that represent these groups.
- Contents of the plan includes:
- Identifying priority risks
- Identifying strategies to reduce the prioritized risk factors
- Setting measurable outcomes
- The plans are expected to address risks at four different levels of intervention as described below.
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- Social Development: long-term investment to improve the social determinants of health and well-being; address complex social issues using an integrated multi-sectoral approach; ensure awareness of/access to services in community; challenge institutional boundaries and organizational culture at systemic level.
- Prevention: proactively identifying and addressing local risk factors before they escalate; implementation of integrated programs across sectors to address priorities for vulnerable groups; engage non-traditional groups in crime prevention efforts.
- Risk Intervention: reducing harm before critical or non-critical response is required; implementation of immediate multi-sector responses (i.e. situation tables); outcomes focused on mitigating harm.
- Incident Response: critical and non-critical incidents that require first responders.
It is also recommended that the following critical success factors are considered when developing plans:
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