• Sharing your awareness of available services, supports and resources with family, friends and neighbours to make sure people know where they can turn if they need help; and

• Thinking about the results you want to see in your community in the longer-term and sharing them with CSWB planners, so they understand community priorities and expectations.

As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, municipalities may experience challenges undertaking planned or on-going consultation and engagement efforts. Where possible, municipalities may want to explore alternative options to continue with their planning efforts. This may include conducting virtual engagement and consultations with community members through webinars, teleconferences and online surveys.

21) What happens if some sectors or agencies/organizations don’t want to get involved?

Given that the advisory committee is comprised of multi-sectoral partners, as a first step, you may want to leverage their connections to different community agencies/organizations and service providers.

It is also important that local government and other senior public officials champion the cause and create awareness of the importance of undertaking the planning process to identify and address local priority risks.

Lastly, if after multiple unsuccessful attempts, it may be of value to reach out to ministry staff for suggestions or assistance at: SafetyPlanning@ontario.ca.

22) Are there requirements for municipalities to publish their CSWB plan?

The PSA includes regulatory requirements for municipalities related to the publication of their CSWB plans. These requirements include:

• Publishing a CSWB plan on the Internet within 30 days after adopting it.

• Making a printed copy of the CSWB plan available for review by anyone who requests it.

• Publishing the plan in any other manner or form the municipality desires.

23) How often do municipalities need to review and update their CSWB plan?

A municipal council should review and, if necessary, update their plan to ensure that the plan continues to be reflective of the needs of the community. This will allow municipalities to assess the long-term outcomes and impacts of their strategies as well as effectiveness of the plan as a whole. Municipalities are encouraged to align their review of the plan with relevant local planning cycles and any other local plans (e.g., municipal strategic plans, police services’ Strategic Plan, etc.). Requirements related to the reviewing and updating of CSWB plans may be outlined in regulation in the future.

24) How will municipalities know if their CSWB plan is effective?

As part of the CSWB planning process, municipalities must identify measurable outcomes that can be tracked throughout the duration of the plan. Short, intermediate and longer-term performance measures need to be identified and collected in order to evaluate how effective the plan has been in addressing the priority risks and creating positive changes in the community.