Guelph Livable City Plan
““There is no logic that can be superimposed on the city; people make it, and it is to them, not buildings, that we must fit our plans.” - Jane Jacobs, Urban Theorist
A city is more than a place on a map. It’s home and community, it’s where we relax and play, conduct business, and make our futures. We are a city that cares for others, the next generation, and giving back.
Think about all the reasons you love Guelph. What are your favourite places and activities? Where do you gather to play, to learn, to connect? When you tell others about Guelph, what do you say?
The things that make Guelph a great place to live are no accident. Previous generations of city residents and City Councils imagined them, planned them, and built them.
Now try to imagine Guelph without them. No parks, no soccer fields, no splash pads, no libraries, no forests, no festivals.
Core services come first, of course. A liveable city doesn’t mean you have to choose between road maintenance and playgrounds. We can have both.
THE PLAN
What makes a city liveable is foundational to our economy, resiliency and quality of life.
BUILDING A LIVEABLE CITY
A liveable city is foundational to our economy, resiliency, and quality of life. I am committed to ensuring Guelph excels on all three of these fronts. These are the specific actions I will take to build a more liveable city:
ACTIONS
Actions
1. Advance the acquisition of the Downtown Park lands along the river, an essential park and trail linkage that will become a gateway feature and critical greenspace for thousands of current and future downtown residents.
2. Identify opportunities for small “pocket parks” in vacant lots and road right-of-ways and work with neighbourhood groups to repurpose underutilized spaces.
3. Finish the Guelph to Goderich trail to provide a safe connection between Silvercreek Pkwy and downtown.
4. Identify arterial road intersections that may pose a high safety risk (e.g., Wellington Street and Edinburgh Road) and support multi-use path crossing infrastructure.
5. Improve wayfinding and community safety using Crime Prevention Through Environmental Principles (CPTED) for trails and parks, including consistent signage, lighting, emergency markers, and accessible surfaces where feasible.
6. Work with key intergovernmental partners at the Province of Ontario to identify a future site for a new healthcare expansion
7. Create affordable community art studios and teaching spaces by using city-owned buildings and updating lease agreements and zoning permits.
8. Separate community funding grants for local arts and cultural organizations from other social benefit community grants.
9. Support Indigenous cultural presence and reconciliation work through place names, public art, cultural spaces, ceremonies, and language revitalization, guided by the Calls to Action outlined in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
10. Extend low-income recreation subsidies to include arts, music, and cultural programming for children and youth.
11. Rebuild the Municipal Accommodation Tax fund. Using a participatory budgeting approach with tourism-related organizations, use a portion of the proceeds to promote increased tourism, sports, arts, and culture.
12. Work toward repurposing the Drill Hall and other underutilized public spaces for community and entrepreneurial use.
13. Develop a Heritage Tax rebate program to help designated property owners conserve, protect, or rebuild public-facing cultural heritage elements.
14. Make Guelph and its public spaces and buildings more accessible for people with a wider range of disabilities, including spaces that are scent-free and welcoming to those in need of sensory regulation, on the autism spectrum, and others.
15. Expand funding for the Energy Equity Action Plan to help low-income families and renters manage the impact of higher utility bills and invest in energy conservation.
16. Complete the Green Development Building Standards framework as a voluntary program so that the city is ready to go when provincial legislation requires it.
17. Explore and support opportunities to decentralize energy generation and storage through distributed energy systems in high-density and new development areas, such as the GID lands and the Clair-Maltby area.
18. Plant 50,000 trees by 2030 city-wide in partnership with community groups, citizens, and businesses, prioritizing low-canopy neighbourhoods and road allowances.
19. Protect pollinators and biodiversity by planting native species in public spaces and gardens wherever possible, and creating habitat corridors connected to parks and trails.
20. Champion National Urban Park status on the former Ontario Reformatory property with intergovernmental partners.
