Corporate Strategic Plan

Strategic Focus: Be Financially Sustainable

• Pickering secures a new $1 million, 15-year naming rights agreement.
• A partnership with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation results in $17,167,711 in revenue for the 2024–2025 fiscal year alone.
• Council approves the Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) By-law. 
• Council approves Fire Communications Services Agreement to outsource fire call taking and dispatch services to the City of Oshawa, streamlining dispatching and emergency communications and saving money.
• The 2024 Budget reflects a significant investment of funds that enable the delivery of critical services, programs and infrastructure to serve our dynamic and growing community. Adopted on March 1, 2024, the budget represents a residential levy impact of 3.99% on the City’s share of the total tax bill. The City has also prepared a 9 year Capital Budget forecast to responsibly plan for our future and guide the City’s infrastructure investments over the long term.

Strategic Focus: Provide Exceptional Customer Service

• A refreshed pickering.ca website launches, improving the user experience and simplifying access to online services for residents, businesses, and visitors.
• The City of Pickering joins the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Program and continues exploring new ways to make its customer experience more inclusive for all.
• Council endorses schematic design for renovations to the Council Chamber (Pickering Civic Complex), authorizing staff to proceed with next steps related to building and construction requirements.

Strategic Focus: Promote Organizational Efficiency & Effectiveness

• The City to streamline the development application review process.
• eScribe is launched, simplifying public access to Council, Standing Committee, and Statutory Public Meeting agendas.

Strategic Focus: Improve quality of life

• Council directs City staff to send a letter urging the Ontario Provincial Government to significantly increase Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program payments. 
• City renews partnership with DARS to support community members in need.
• To help fund meaningful City projects, City staff will be taking advantage of Federal and Provincial grant opportunities, including the Green & Inclusive Community Building Program (GICB), the Community Sport and Recreation Infrastructure Fund and Stream 2 of the Community Sport and Recreation Infrastructure Fund (CSRIF).
• Pickering celebrated the opening of Jerry Coughlan Health & Wellness Centre, a new state-of-the-art Surgical Centre and health-care facility.
• Construction is underway on a new 200-bed long-term care home in Pickering.

Strategic Focus: Celebrate community diversity

• The Pickering Museum Village Restoration Project wins the Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award for Excellence in Conservation.
• Council approves public art designs for two remembrance-themed crosswalks.
• The City of Pickering is named 2025 Municipality of the Year by Festivals & Events Ontario.
• The City’s Cultural Fusion Festival is named one of the Top 100 Festivals & Events in Ontario for 2025.
• On the Backs of Fish, Pickering’s new permanent public art, opens at Pickering Museum Village.
• City of Pickering invests in arts, heritage, and culture with the start of construction of the new Pickering Heritage & Community Centre.
• Artist, Linfeng Zhou, awarded poppy marker public art commission.

Strategic Focus: Promote community safety

• Council endorses the Community Risk Assessment and Fire Master Plan, addressing fire protection services and emergency response needs over the next 7–10 years.
• Council approves the creation of a Community Safety Zone on Liverpool Road.
• City approves security camera investments at City Facilities and Parks, enhancing the level of security for both the public and staff at City parks and facilities.
• Council endorses Community Safety & Well-Being Plan.
• Pickering Fire kicks off its annual fire education campaign, ‘FireSafe Pickering’, to educate residents about fire safety and fire-related issues in the community.
• Local Fire Departments launch ‘Spring into Summer Safety’ Campaign to share critical fire safety tips to keep community members safe.

Strategic Focus: Provide equitable access to municipal services and programs

• eScribe, an electronic meeting management software, is launched to produce fully AODA-compliant HTML versions of agendas for public Council, Standing Committee, and Statutory Public Meetings.
• Pickering enhances access and transparency to Council meetings with a new live streaming service that includes optional closed captioning. 
• Council endorses schematic design for renovations to the Council Chamber (Pickering Civic Complex), authorizing staff to proceed with next steps related to building and construction requirements.
• City enhances Pothole Repair Program with the addition of two additional asphalt hot boxes, equipping staff with resources needed to fix potholes in a timely manner.
• St. Mary Park Playground reopens with accessibility upgrades that are fully compliant with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).
• Consulting Services for Council Chambers Renovations is awarded; work includes overall improvements to accessibility, security, acoustic performance, audio-visual systems, controls, electrical and mechanical systems, millwork, finishes and related systems and building elements.
• City of Pickering and Town of Whitby partner on pre-approved design program for Additional Dwelling Units (ADUs).

Strategic Focus: Advocate for and work with partners to increase access to health care facilities and medical practitioners

• Memorandum of Understanding among the City of Pickering, the Regional Municipality of Durham and all Durham local municipalities is approved to fund, create, and deliver a family physician recruitment program in Durham.

Strategic Focus: Promote and support responsible planning and sustainable growth

• Council approves new pickleball courts at Diana, Princess of Wales Park.
• Council endorses the 2024–2029 Corporate Energy Management Plan (CEMP), providing a roadmap for planning and decision-making in the next phase of the City’s Corporate Energy Management Program. 
• At the December 16, 2024 Council Meeting, staff receive Council’s enactment of the City-wide final Consolidated Zoning By-law.
• City of Pickering invests in arts, heritage, and culture with Pickering Heritage & Community Centre as its first zero-carbon Community Centre.

Strategic Focus: Promote community connectivity and accessibility

• The City of Pickering hosts a Public Information Centre to share findings of the City Centre Transportation Master Plan and gather feedback on proposed directions for the transportation network.
• The City to launch a Shared E-Scooter Pilot Program.
• Council approves City’s Recreation & Parks – Ten Year Plan (2024 – 2034), which will help guide future investments for community centres, ice rinks, sports fields, pools and splash pads, playgrounds, and more.
• City to develop a 2025 Road Needs Study, which is required to establish lifecycle funding requirements and determine the improvement needs of the City’s road system (both hard and loose surfaces) over the next 10 years.
• The High Frequency Rail (HFR) project completed its second phase and Council endorsed the Corridor Design for a proposed station stop in Pickering.

Strategic Focus: Demonstrate environmental leadership and innovation

• The City launches a new anti-littering campaign to address careless littering and illegal dumping, especially along the waterfront, parks, and trail systems.
• The City to update the Urban Forest Study and Tree Canopy Assessment.

Strategic Focus: Build environmental and infrastructure resilience through proactive climate change mitigation and adaptation measures

• The Sustainable Housing Foundation honours the City for its commitment to working with the building community through the Integrated Sustainable Design Standards (ISDS).
• City staff share an update on the Electric Vehicle Charging Station Pilot, highlighting that chargers have delivered 108.2 megawatt-hours of energy to date.
• Council authorizes a two-year extension to the joint agreement with the Region of Durham and the Local Enhancement and Appreciation of Forests (LEAF) to deliver the tree planting program.
• Council endorses the 2024–2029 Corporate Energy Management Plan (CEMP), providing a roadmap for planning and decision-making in the next phase of the City’s energy program.
• Council endorses the Community Climate Adaptation Plan.
• Pickering Council approves the new modernized Tree Protection By-law.
• The City of Pickering completed its Pine Creek Erosion Municipal Class Environmental Assessment Study (Class EA), enabling staff to identify and prioritize erosion-related risks within the study area, and to develop a list of high priority sites in need of rehabilitation.

Strategic Focus: Build Relationships

• Pickering introduces Ratepayer Association Registry to better profile and support local Ratepayer Associations.

Strategic Focus: Act as a community connector and community builder through partnerships and collaboration

• Council approves expansion of parking area for Valley Plentiful Community Garden, enabling Valley Plentiful Community Garden users to better access the site.

Strategic Focus: Address community needs through collaboration and partnerships 

• Pickering renews key licence agreements to continue supporting community events, arts programming, and private rentals at several northern facilities. 
• Council directs City staff to send a letter urging the Ontario Provincial Government to significantly increase payments to Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program. 
• The City to designate the G.M. Forsyth House under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act. 

Strategic Focus: Make information and services readily accessible and available to all community members

• Pickering enhances access and transparency to Council meetings through the launch of eScribe and a new live streaming service with optional closed captioning.
• The City employs a range of engagement methods for its anti-littering campaign.
• Pickering Council endorses the Digital Readiness Assessment and Strategy, outlining an investment and implementation framework to leverage digital technology to improve operational efficiency and service delivery.

Strategic Focus: Promote civic education and pride

• Pickering celebrates its 25th anniversary through key events such as the Mayor’s New Year’s Levee, unveiling of commemorative art banners, and the planting of 25 Silver Maple trees.
• Pickering City Council approves the naming of the exhibit gallery at the future Dorsay Community & Heritage Centre in honour of former Mayor John E. Anderson.
• Launched Conversations in the Community page to provide community members with accurate information around topics of interest.

• 2025 Budget Highlights
• 2024 Annual Progress Report
• Report to Council LEG 06-23
• Report to Council LEG 06-19
  Strategic Plan
  - Proposal of Planning Solutions Inc