Why Engage

We want to hear from you! We recognize the importance and value of involving local residents in shaping the development of City projects, policies and initiatives. Hamilton is our city. We all have a role to play in realizing the City’s vision to be the “best place to raise a child and age successfully”.

Engaging residents on issues that affect their lives and their city is a key component of democratic society. Engagement encourages participation, action and personal responsibility. It also helps us to identify sustainable solutions and lead more informed decision-making through a range of perspectives, experience and knowledge.

This online platform is meant to compliment the different engagement tools and strategies the City uses to promote greater public engagement and make it easy for residents to participate in civic activities. We also developed a Public Engagement Charter to guide the way we engage with residents in decisions that impact them and their community.

Public Engagement Charter

An engagement charter is a promise. It sets the ground rules for local government on how the City should actively involve its residents in issues that affect their lives. Hamilton’s Public Engagement Charter was created by a volunteer committee of diverse local residents and endorsed by City Council in April 2015.

The Charter set forth core principles around public engagement and adopted the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2) Spectrum of Public Participation as the preferred framework to guide all future engagement. Read the Public Engagement Charter to learn more about core principles, collective responsibilities and guiding framework for approaching public engagement.

Public Engagement Practices

After receiving Council endorsement of the Charter, City staff developed a corporate-wide Public Engagement Toolkit to further strengthen and improve our public engagement practices. In 2019, a cross-departmental Public Engagement Community of Practice was established to enhance staff capacity, collaboration and continuous improvement in city-wide engagement initiatives.