2021–2024 Community Safety
& Well-Being Plan
Our shared plan for a safer Barrie involves 15 actions, endorsed by City Council and led by a variety of local organizations.
Community safety and well-being (CSWB) plans are what result when municipal governments, police, local organizations and residents discuss local issues and then commit to working together in new ways to create a safer, healthier city. The Ontario Government now requires municipalities to prepare and adopt these plans.
A safe community is one where harms to its members are prevented whenever possible, and where harms that cannot be prevented are reduced and healed as effectively as possible. Safety and well-being are interlinked. When people are well, they are more able to prevent, reduce, and heal from harms. And when communities are safe, it is easier for people to thrive.
Background
Over the last 30 years, Barrie’s population has more than doubled, from near 65,000 in the early 1990s to approximately 150,000 people today. However, crime in Barrie remains low. Since 2012, Barrie has been the safest major metropolitan area in Ontario, and in 2019 was ranked fifth safest in Canada.
Despite Barrie’s many successes, there are conditions in our city that can contribute to poorer community safety and well-being. Addressing the most serious of these risk factors is the focus of Barrie’s Community Safety and Well-Being Plan. The partners in the Plan will work together to implement our shared plan for a safer Barrie.
Areas of Focus & Action Items
Barrie's Community Safety and Well-Being Plan was developed by a committee, with significant input from a public survey and focus group meetings. The Plan has four areas of focus that cover 15 action items, which will be implemented by the
partners working with the community.
Action Area 1
A Safer Barrie by Working Together
Full details about the action items below are outlined in the
CSWB Plan, pages 34 to 49. |
- The City of Barrie and the
Barrie Police Service will work with partners to launch an Annual Community Safety and
Well-Being Forum to review our progress and strengthen working relationships. - The signatories of the new Barrie Health Accord will undertake a communitywide planning process that will lead to
coordinated and sustainable investments in improving determinants of health. - The
Barrie Police Service and partners will strengthen the ‘Collaborate Barrie’ Situation Table as a way to improve responses to situations where an individual is at significant risk of harm.
- The
Barrie Police Service will work with partners to develop a proposal and build community support for a community justice centre in Barrie.
- The
Barrie Police Service and partners will work towards creating a community service campus where individuals can access a range of health and social services from multiple providers.
- The
Canadian Mental Health Association Simcoe County and
Barrie Police Service will work together to identify and implement actions that increase access to the mental health services that have the greatest impact on community safety.
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Action Area 2
Connected Communities are Safe Communities
Full details about the action items below are outlined in the
CSWB Plan, pages 51 to 57. |
- The
Barrie Public Library and partners will strengthen community by spearheading a coordinated effort to increase the number of active volunteers in Barrie.
-
Georgian College and partners will launch a Barrie Inclusion Network that helps coordinate efforts to involve every resident in creating a safe and welcoming Barrie.
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Action Area 3
Safety is for Everyone
Full details about the action items below are outlined in the
CSWB Plan, pages 58 to 75. |
- The Mayor’s Office and the
Barrie Police Service will convene the
Barrie Anti-Racism Task Force, which will help
guide anti-racism action throughout Barrie. -
Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit will work with partners in Barrie to reduce harms from drug use by increasing access to naloxone, advancing plans for other harm reduction services, and creating an updated Simcoe Muskoka Drug Strategy.
- The
Women and Children’s Shelter of Barrie,
Barrie Public Library, and partners will expand training about how to provide trauma-informed services.
- The City of Barrie will consult CSWB Plan partners about how to best improve community safety when the City updates its 10-year
Affordable Housing Strategy.
- The
County of Simcoe will continue to collaborate with the City of Barrie and local stakeholders in efforts to reduce and ultimately end homelessness in Barrie and surrounding areas.
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Action Area 4
Prepared and Protected
Full details about the action items below are outlined in the
CSWB Plan, pages 76 to 81. |
- The
Barrie Police Service and partners will work to protect residents vulnerable to online threats and phone scams.
- The City of Barrie and partners will develop an updated City of Barrie Pandemic Plan so that organizations in Barrie build off work done together during the current pandemic in order to be ready for potential future pandemics.
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Action Partners
15 organizations have committed to help implement one or more of the Plan’s 15 actions:
Others are welcome and encouraged to get involved — implementing this the CSWB Plan will require many hands. Interested in supporting one or more of the Plan’s 15 Actions? Please contact the lead organization for more information.