You’ve had a hand in shaping Vaughan
Whether you’ve
commented on the development of a new program, provided input on a plan, shared
feedback on a policy, taken a survey or voiced an opinion in a public meeting –
you’ve had a hand in shaping Vaughan. Community engagement is fundamental to
the city-building process, and the City of Vaughan is dedicated to keeping this
dialogue open, accessible, inclusive and transparent. An overview of engagement
tactics delivered, industry best practices adopted and milestones achieved in
2021 are outlined in the City’s Stakeholder and
Community Engagement Policy Update.
Some highlights are below:
Vaughan’s Stakeholder
and Community Engagement Policy
In January 2021, Council
adopted the Stakeholder and
Community Engagement Policy (PDF) and a framework for planning and executing
engagement processes at the City. This policy is a formal commitment to
involving citizens, businesses and stakeholders in crucial conversations that
will help shape the city they know and love. It was developed through extensive
internal and external consultation, jurisdictional review and engagement
benchmarking – it also adopts internationally recognized standards, best
practices and methodology. Watch this video to learn more about
the policy.
The Made-for-Vaughan
Engagement Spectrum
The Made-for-Vaughan
Engagement Spectrum
(PDF) is a cornerstone of the City’s engagement framework and defines the level
of public participation for any given project. Vaughan’s adapted spectrum
includes three main levels of engagement: share information, collect and
compile information, and bring people together. The latter two levels each have
two sub-levels: listen and learn, and consult; include and co-create. Vaughan’s
Engagement Spectrum defines the role of the public when they participate in
City engagement activities. The spectrum is designed to help City staff
determine the appropriate level of participation based on the input they need
from the community.
2021 engagement
highlights
Through the approval of
the engagement policy, the City has made great strides toward ensuring
citizens, businesses and stakeholders are meaningfully involved in municipal
decisions that interest or impact them:
- Nearly 50 city-building engagement campaigns were delivered for projects in the community. In response, more than 7,170 people participated by completing surveys, attending open houses or providing comments through the City’s online engagement platform – Have Your Say, Vaughan.
- Subscriptions to the Vaughan Engagement eNewsletter almost doubled, growing from approximately 600 to 1,100 people. Subscribers show high interest in the content, with an average eNewsletter open rate of 62 per cent, roughly double the industry average.
- The City’s engagement pages – including the Have Your Say platform – received almost 23,000 views.
- The City delivered approximately 54 presentations, both live and on-demand; hosted 42 live virtual meetings, including public open houses, public information centres, workshops and focus groups; and engaged citizens through roughly 40 surveys, virtual idea boards, interactive maps and online comment forums. The surveys alone have collected more than 5,100 responses.
All this feedback has helped build the city to best meet citizens’ needs – and the numbers continue to grow!
Have Your Say, Vaughan
In February 2021, a new
online platform, Have Your Say, Vaughan, was launched to make engaging
with the City easier than ever. The
online tool provides an easy, secure and convenient way to participate in,
learn about, engage with and give honest feedback about City engagements in an
accessible, virtual environment. Have Your Say, Vaughan expands the City’s ability
to conduct digital engagement, allowing the community to participate at a time
and in a place that works best for them.
Teams across the organization continue to provide various public engagement opportunities – and they want to hear from you! Visit vaughan.ca/HaveYourSay to get involved. Continue to check this webpage as new opportunities are frequently posted.
Engagement Feedback
Survey
Did you recently participate
in a City engagement activity? Maybe you completed a survey, placed a pin on an
interactive map or attended a virtual open house. If so, the City wants to hear
about your experience! The City has an Engagement Feedback
Survey
open to collect input on Vaughan’s engagement practices – what project did you
get involved in? How did you participate? Did you feel informed? Did you feel
listened to? Complete the online survey to provide input into how the City can
make its engagement process even better. The survey will be open throughout 2022.
The 2022 Citizen Survey
The 2022 Citizen Survey
(launching later this year) will be another opportunity to collect feedback
from the people who matter – you! This statistically valid telephone survey –
plus an online survey – will gather input from residents on quality of life, engagement
practices, delivery of services, use of tax dollars, communications, digital
services and much more. For more information about this initiative as it
becomes available, visit vaughan.ca/CitizenSurvey.
Keeping you informed
Subscribe to the City’s
Engagement eNewsletter to stay up to date
with civic opportunities for you to get involved in. This eNewsletter is issued
directly to subscribed mailboxes one to two times per month.
For a full update on the City’s engagement initiatives, read the Committee of the Whole (2) Report: Stakeholder and Community Engagement Policy Update.
For updates and news as they happen, subscribe to Vaughan News and follow the official corporate channels on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.