Community Safety and Well-Being Plan Review

Thank you for your feedback on Hamilton’s Community Safety and Well-Being (CSWB) Plan 2025 - 2029

Hamilton’s Community Safety and Well-Being (CSWB) Plan is a community-owned strategy that aims to address the root causes of harm and improve quality of life for all residents. The 2025–2029 revision was motivated by evolving community needs, growing local pressures, and the province’s legislated mandate for municipalities to reduce reliance on emergency response. The updated Plan offers a structured, collaborative approach focused on prevention, equity, and collective impact.

In Spring 2024, the City of Hamilton began the process of revising its Community Safety and Well-Being (CSWB) Plan for 2025–2029. This work was grounded in a collaborative, community-centered approach that brought together the voices of residents, agencies, and networks from across the city. The revision process was informed by multiple sources: public engagement, City-led and community-led asset mapping, targeted consultations with equity-deserving groups, discussions with Action Tables and community networks, a scan of CSWB strategies in other municipalities, local data analysis, and guidance from the System Advisory Leadership Table (SALT).

Who did we hear from? How did we engage?

Our engagement efforts were designed to gather insights from a diverse range of people living and working in Hamilton. A variety of engagement methods were used to capture community priorities, lived experiences, and recommendations for enhancing safety and well-being in Hamilton. These included:

• Community Partner Conversations: Direct discussion with members of diverse tables and networks connected to the CSWB Plan.
• Focused Agency-led Discussions: Local organizations partnered with the City of Hamilton to lead engagement activities with vulnerable communities and residents with relevant lived experience, to make sure their voices were heard and included.
• Public Survey on Engage Hamilton: Online survey open to the public collected broad-based feedback on community priorities. We heard from nearly 1,000 survey respondents.
• Art of Belonging Initiative: Engagement initiative where children contributed drawings on the theme of belonging, offering a unique children’s perspective on inclusion and safety.

What did we hear? How did it inform the revision?

Thank you to everyone who took part—whether by completing a survey, attending a discussion, or contributing through creative engagement. Your voices played a critical role in shaping the updated Plan, which was approved by City Council in May 2025. Your input helped identify key gaps, reaffirm urgent issues, and inform new directions for community safety and well-being in Hamilton. Public survey feedback specifically identified housing as a top priority, a concern for many residents prioritized by the revised plan’s focus.

The robust revision confirmed that the six original CSWB priorities—hate, substance use, violence, housing and homelessness, mental health, and income access—continue to reflect pressing challenges in our city. At the same time, new and evolving concerns emerged, including food insecurity, social isolation, the rise in encampments, and broader concerns about community safety and belonging. These insights helped expand and strengthen the Plan.

To guide our collective response to these complex issues, the 2025–2029 CSWB Plan introduces three areas of focus. Each focus area highlights a priority that helps us respond to the most important safety and well-being challenges in our community. They act like guiding directions, helping the City, partners, and community members work together on what matters most and make the biggest impact.

• System Capacity: We will strengthen how we work together across communities and organizations to become more connected, coordinated, and aligned. When our systems work together, we can respond more effectively to complex challenges.
• Equitable Access and Availability to Services: We will help bring support to everyone who needs it, especially those experiencing disadvantages. When there are clear ways for everyone to access mental health care, housing, and food, our communities thrive.
• Community Safety: We will support efforts to prevent hate, discrimination, and violence while building safer, more inclusive spaces. When everyone feels welcome and protected, we create a sense of belonging.

The updated Plan is rooted in the guiding principles of equity, inclusion, reconciliation, meaningful collaboration, and data-informed decision-making. It reflects the realities and hopes of our community and serves as a blueprint for action over the next four years and we continue the conversation with residents and community partners.

Thank you again for your time, energy, and input. Your participation continues to shape the direction of community safety and well-being in Hamilton. Your voice matters.