Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Municipalities across Ontario have a provincial mandate to develop Community Safety and Well-Being (CSWB) plans according to a framework established by the Ministry of the Solicitor General.

With a recent repeal and replacement of the Police Services Act, with the Community Safety and Police Act, 2019, a new regulation was added that requires Council to review and, if appropriate, revise the plan every four years.

Residents will have various opportunities to provide feedback on through an online survey (coming soon) and targeted engagement sessions. 

Your feedback will help us: 

• Refine priorities: We’ll use your input to confirm the importance of existing priorities and identify any new or emerging issues that need attention.  
• Identify gaps: Your insights will help us evaluate the current CSWB approach to determine what’s working well and highlight areas for improvement.  
• Inform: Action / Implementation Plans

The existing seven priorities of the CSWB Plan were developed through extensive community engagement and data analysis in 2021.

See: What We Heard reports: 2020 and 2021

They remain relevant and rooted in lived community experience and municipal priorities.

Many initiatives launched since 2021 are still being implemented. Evaluating their impact takes time and will provide meaningful insights for future planning. A significant shift in priorities at this stage could cause confusion, undermine progress, and lead to duplication across systems that are just beginning to realign toward common goals.

Over the first four years, we have made measurable impact, and in partnership with the community we have built strong foundations to drive long term sustainable system change.

However, meaningful change requires long-term, sustained effort. Many initiatives and funding launched under the 2021 CSWB Plan are still in the early stages. Over the next four years we will build on what’s working, strengthen accountability, and move further toward sustainable, system-level change.

The performance measurement framework (PMF) established for the CSWB Plan provides a structure for annual reporting across the seven priorities by establishing three reporting streams:

1. Evidence base (Pillar 1)
   1. Tracking indicators of safety and well-being at the population-level provides information about changes in social determinants of health and their distribution across sociodemographic groups. Serves as a frame of reference for actions taken under the CSWB plan
2. Reporting at the plan-level (Pillar 2)
   1. Providing information about activity and output across the CSWB plan as it pertains to:
      1. Funding allocation
      2. CSWB plan contributions to other Council-approved strategic plans within CSSD and across the City
      3. Progress updates toward completion of priority-specific strategic actions
3. Reporting at the project-level (Pillar 3)
   1. Providing information about specific interventions under the CSWB plan as it pertains to:
      1. Performance measurement
      2. Evaluation

ANCHOR Formative Evaluation

Poverty Reduction Strategy

Community Safety and Well-Being Plan is championed by an advisory committee which both meets legislative requirements and brings together various sectors’ perspectives together to provide strategic advice and direction to the City on the development and implementation of the plan.

CSWBAC Advisory members include:

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ottawa
• Canadian Centre for Women’s Empowerment
• Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa
• Community and Social Services Department, City of Ottawa
• Corporate Finance, City of Ottawa
• Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition
• Ottawa Catholic School Board
• Ottawa Coalition of Business Improvement Areas
• Ottawa Health Team
• Ottawa Public Health
• Ottawa Police Service Board
• Ottawa Police Service
• University of Ottawa

The mandate of the Community Safety and Well-Being Advisory Committee is to fulfill the duties of an advisory committee under the Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019, and guide the strategic direction of the City of Ottawa’s Community Safety and Well-Being Plan, advising the other entities in the governance structure and over time bringing forward to Council proposed changes as progress is made.

The development of Ottawa’s Community Safety and Well-Being Plan is a collective community centered effort. Legislative accountability to complete these plans within Community Safety and Police Act, 2019 falls to the municipal government, Ottawa City Council will approve the final plan.