Here’s How Burlington is Planning for the Future

Published July 17, 2019 at 3:58 pm

Whether you’re planning to go back to school, make a career change, or planning for retirement, it’s never a bad idea to plan for the future.

Whether you’re planning to go back to school, make a career change, or planning for retirement, it’s never a bad idea to plan for the future. And that’s exactly what the city of Burlington is doing.

Here’s how the city is planning for the future.


On July 15, 2019, the main goals and actions required to move certain priorities forward, outlined in the city’s ‘2018-2022 Plan: From Vision to Focus’ plan, during this term of council were approved. 

These priorities have been divided into five different focus areas. 

The first focus area outlines the city’s plans to increase economic prosperity and community-responsive growth management. This focus area consists of two main goals: increasing employment options across the city, and increasing housing options.

The second focus area outlines Burlington’s plans regarding improving integrated city mobility. The two main goals outlined in this focus area are increasing the city’s transit service levels and growing its ridership, and improving the transit and transportation modal split.

Focus area 3 – supporting sustainable infrastructure and a resilient environment – highlights the city’s plans to reduce the infrastructure gap for all city-owned assets, and to promote and work towards a lower carbon footprint within the city.

The fourth focus area outlines the city’s plans to increase its tree canopy, and community engagement (being a municipal leader, according to the document, in community engagement, volunteerism, and collaboration).

Lastly, the fifth focus area – Delivering customer-centric services with a focus on efficiency and technology transformation – highlights Burlington’s plan to ensure efficient, economical, and effective service delivery, enhancing and emphasizing a customer-first approach in all service areas in the city, along with investing in customer-centric digital technologies.

The four-year plan prioritizes key strategic direction from the city’s long-term 25-year strategic plan. 

However, according to the city, updates are being made to the ‘2018-2022 Plan: From Vision to Focus’ document. 

An updated version will be available come September of this year.

And even though this is a four-year plan, the city has noted that some initiatives may be carried over into future years for continued implementation. And, Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward has noted that this plan will help get the city to where it should be by 2040.

“This work plan lays out what we want to focus on as a city and council in the next four years to get us to where we want to be by 2040 (our vision),” Meed Ward said in a statement. “This is a living document that will be recalibrated year over year — we want to get the wheels in motion to make it easy to fulfill the matters that are top of mind among our residents: the tree canopy, green space, and growth and development. I believe there is an appetite for visionary aspirations among staff at the City of Burlington, and I can tell you the community is already there — they are ready for this. I’m proud of this plan and want to thank and congratulate staff on all the great work they have put together in it.”

To click here view the current plan document.

Photo is courtesy of the city of Burlington’s Facebook page.

insauga's Editorial Standards and Policies advertising