Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus Identifies Priorities in 2024-2027 Strategic Plan

Eastern Ontario – The Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus (EOWC) has released its 2024-2027 Strategic Plan. Through collaboration and consolidated feedback among representatives of its member municipalities, the EOWC identifies three strategic priorities that will guide its decision-making and advocacy focus for the next three years:

• Infrastructure investment
• Housing for all
• Health care access

“Reliable infrastructure systems and facilities to foster growth, a range of housing options that are affordable and meet the needs of all people, and access to health care services is critically important to people living, raising families, and building businesses in Eastern Ontario,” says EOWC Chair Peter Emon. “This strategic plan is a blueprint for ensuring that we all work together to ensure those needs are met for residents of rural Eastern Ontario, now and into the future.”

The EOWC is committed to working with all tiers of government, business operators, and community leaders to ensure people across Eastern Ontario’s small urban and rural communities are equipped to thrive into the future. The Strategic Plan outlines the EOWC’s approach to each priority.

1. Infrastructure: The Foundation for Local Prosperity
   a. Advocate for continued and necessary investment in provincially and federally owned and controlled infrastructure.
   b. Create flexible and adaptive policies to enable our municipalities and the Ontario Government to unlock capacity and build innovative infrastructure solutions.
   c. Invest in municipal infrastructure that provides predictable, fair, evidence-based funding to allow municipalities to plan and create economic environments that foster growth.
   d. Invest in infrastructure that supports an environmentally sustainable economy.
2. Housing: The Backbone of Thriving and Supportive Communities
   a. Continue to advocate for alternative funding to assist Eastern Ontario municipalities to plan and develop housing and related infrastructure.
   b. Make programming more equitable by advocating for the expansion of the parameters for funding eligibility and allocation across all municipalities.
   c. Develop and recommend flexible and adaptive housing policies to enable Eastern Ontario municipalities and the Ontario Government to build innovative housing solutions.
3.  Health Care: The Engine for Healthy and Resilient Communities
   a. Undertake an environmental scan to measure what municipalities are spending directly on health care and to access related trend data and forecasting. This will include integrating the social determinants of health framework into the assessment.
   b. Provide evidence-based feedback and data to inform government decisions around long-term care, paramedic services, public health, and the evolution of Ontario Health Teams. The EOWC will incorporate social determinants of health to map out its impact.
   c. Educate the public and continue to advocate for adequate and sustainable funding to support the delivery of healthcare services and to ensure the long-term viability of the healthcare system.

The EOWC will also continue to work towards:

Strengthening our Organizational Impact: The Value of the EOWC’s Voice

a. Ensure our work is informed by research and an evidence-based approach.
b. Engage in collaborations and partnerships that move the needle on issues impacting Eastern Ontario.
c. Communicate strategically and effectively on multiple levels with the government and all our key partners and members.
d. Provide effective and strategic leadership and build our organizational strength to ensure our efforts are impactful.

Read more about the EOWC’s Strategic Plan and download your copy at EOWC.org.