Guelph. Future ready.

City’s Strategic Plan is set and ready to go

Guelph, Ont., September 23, 2019 – This evening Guelph City Council approved the City’s Strategic Plan: Guelph. Future ready. Built with the Guelph’s Community Plan in mind, the City’s Strategic Plan reflects the aspirations of Council, staff and the community, and will drive us towards a more sustainable future. 

The City strives to create an inclusive, connected, prosperous city where we look after each other and our environment. This vision is within reach. With the Strategic Plan as a guiding document, Council, staff and the community will accelerate Guelph’s innovation economy, mitigate climate change, improve local transportation, develop long-term financial plans and help increase the availability of housing.

“The Strategic Plan is the product of a collaborative effort between Council and staff and it reflects the community’s vision for Guelph,” says Mayor Cam Guthrie. “This is our road map to building the future we want in our city.”

By aligning the Strategic Plan to the community’s vision, the City has ensured the decisions of today will meet the community’s needs now and will prepare Guelph for the future.

“This Plan also signals a new way of doing business,” says Scott Stewart, Chief Administrative Officer.  “Over the coming months we’ll be aligning our work plans, multi-year budget and annual performance reports to the Strategic Plan to help Council in their decision-making role. There is a lot of work for us to do, and together we will achieve it.”

Council and staff, with input from stakeholders, will to develop action plans over the coming months that will enhance Guelph’s future readiness by focusing on areas such as the economy, environment and our social well-being.  

Strategic Plan at a glance

Our vision

An inclusive, connected, prosperous city where we look after each other and our environment.

Our mission

Working together to deliver responsible and responsive public service to Guelph’s growing and diverse community.

Our priorities

Powering our future through growing our economy

Sustaining our future by sustaining our environment

Navigating our future through a connected transportation network

Working together for our future by modernizing our government, and 

Building our future as a welcoming and complete community

What’s next?

The City will create a set of five integrated action plans—one for each strategic priority—comprised of options to achieve specific goals.

The proposed plans will be presented to Council in Q2, 2020 and will become the comprehensive blueprint for the first multi-year budget.

The City’s Strategic Plan can be found on guelph.ca/strategicplan.