Strategies
Community Safety and Well-Being Plan
Contact Us
Rachelle Ihekwoaba
Manager, Community Strategies
Call 905-546-2424 ext 5909
Email [email protected]
CSWB Plan Review
Hamilton's CSWB Plan is designed to enhance safety and well-being in Hamilton by collaboratively addressing key social challenges. We need your feedback!
Effective April 1, 2024, the Ministry of the Solicitor General requires all municipalities to review and, if necessary, update their Community Safety and Well-Being Plans every four years. Hamilton's revised plan will be informed by various community engagement activities and submitted to the Ministry by July 1, 2025.
The City of Hamilton and community partners have developed a Community Safety and Well-Being (CSWB) Plan for Hamilton. Hamilton’s Community Safety and Well-Being Plan was unanimously adopted by Hamilton City Council on June 23, 2021
Under the Province's Safer Ontario Act, 2018 municipalities are required to develop a Community Safety & Well-being Plan using the provincial government’s Community Safety & Well-Being Framework.
A Community Safety and Well-Being Plan aims to create the community conditions where:
- Everyone is safe and has a sense of belonging
- Everyone has access to services; and
- Individual and families can meet their needs for education, health care, food, housing, income, and social and cultural expression.
Local Priorities
Community partners identified six local priorities for further investigation and collaboration that are included in Hamilton’s Community Safety and Well-Being Plan. These priorities are:
- hate incidents
- violence
- mental health and stigmatization
- substance use
- homelessness and access to affordable housing
- access to income
Balanced Approach
Community Safety and Well-Being plans support safe and healthy communities through a community-based approach to address root causes of complex social issues. Planning seeks to achieve a proactive, balanced and collaborative approach to community safety and well-being across four key areas:
- Social Development - promoting and maintaining community safety and well-being.
- Prevention - Proactivity reducing identified risks.
- Risk Intervention - Mitigating situations of elevated risk.
- Incident Response - Critical and non-critical incident response.
Hamilton’s Community Safety and Well-Being Plan development is overseen by an advisory committee, referred to as the System Leadership Table, which meets both legislative requirements and brings together various sectors’ perspectives to provide strategic advice and direction to the City on the development and implementation of the plan.
Current Focus Areas
In November 2022, a community partner workshop was held bringing together more than 110 participants, representing a wide range of sectors and organizations to inform what initiatives should be included in the CSWBP Implementation Plan to address priority areas. Feedback from the workshop was utilized to inform the following focus areas.
The Building Safer Communities Grant initiative is a partnership with Public Safety Canada, providing multi-year funding for community-led efforts to prevent and address risk factors associated with youth gun and gang violence.
From 2023 to 2026, nearly $2.5 million is being invested in community initiatives through this grant, supporting priorities identified in Hamilton’s Building Safer Communities Multi-Year Plan.
Informed by ongoing community engagement with youth, parents, guardians and service providers across Hamilton, the funding currently focuses on the following priorities:
- Preventive programs that foster youth and community connections, build positive pathways through employment, recreation, mentorship and raise awareness about the realities of gang involvement.
- Comprehensive support services that expand and initiate programs to assist youth exiting gangs, offering comprehensive support.
Programming is focused on empowering Indigenous, Black, female and newcomer youth to achieve their goals.
Community partners currently implementing these initiatives are as follows:
- Hamilton East Kiwanis Boys and Girls Club
- Centre de Santé Communautaire Hamilton Niagara Inc.
- Empowerment Squared
- Niwasa Kendaaswin Teg
- NPAAMB - Indigenous Youth Employment & Training
- STAC Hamilton
- Wesley Urban Ministries Inc.
- YMCA of Hamilton/Burlington/Brantford
- YWCA Hamilton
Hamilton C.A.R.E.S. (Community Assistance and Resource Engagement System)
Empowering Youth and Families through Coordinated Support
Hamilton C.A.R.E.S. is a situation table that brings together a wide range of community agencies from health, education, justice, and social services sectors to offer coordinated and timely support for individuals and families facing urgent or elevated challenges. Approximately 20 local agencies collaborate to assess situations and connect individuals with the appropriate services and resources, ensuring that needs are met swiftly and effectively.
What is a Situation Table?
A situation table is a collaborative team of local agencies that meets regularly to proactively address cases of high or elevated risk. These tables are designed to foster swift and coordinated action, enabling agencies to assess situations in a collective and holistic way, share insights, and work together with youth and families to create solutions that build on their strengths and address immediate needs. By combining expertise and resources, these teams enhance their capacity to make a meaningful impact, providing a more effective response than any single organization working alone.
Hamilton C.A.R.E.S. Goals
- Increase service access and reduce barriers, ensuring people are connected to the right services at the right time.
- Provide proactive support to address needs before they escalate.
- Offer comprehensive, culturally responsive assistance that values the diverse backgrounds of individuals and families.
- Strengthen collaboration among community partners to create seamless and efficient service delivery.
- Raise awareness of service gaps and advocate for positive changes to better meet community needs.
- Enhance community safety and well-being by reducing risks and empowering individuals to thrive.
Hamilton C.A.R.E.S. Focus Area
Hamilton C.A.R.E.S. focuses on supporting youth and families with children aged 8 to 14 who are experiencing elevated risks. These situations involve:
- A high likelihood of immediate harm to individuals or others, with an emphasis on prevention.
- Risk factors that require a collaborative, multi-agency response, drawing on the strengths and expertise of various partners.
- A need for timely intervention to prevent further escalation and ensure positive outcomes, avoiding the need for emergency measures.
How does the Hamilton C.A.R.E.S. Situation Table work?
Image flow chart caption: Weekly meetings, multiple community agencies attend, discuss youth/family support (with their consent), share information and resources to creative supportive plan, identify agencies that can assist, initiate a timely response, connect youth/family to services.
Community Partners
Hamilton C.A.R.E.S. includes a wide range of dedicated community partners, including:
- Banyan Community Services Inc.
- Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton
- Hamilton Child and Family Supports (Formerly Children’s Aid Society)
- Centre de Sante Communautaire Hamilton/Niagara Inc.
- City of Hamilton; Children’s and Community Services; Housing Services; Ontario Works; Recreation
- Hamilton Health Sciences, Child and Youth Mental Health Program McMaster Children’s Hospital
- Hamilton Police Services
- Hamilton Wentworth Catholic District School Board
- Hamilton Wentworth District School Board
- Lynwood Charlton Centre
- Niwasa Kendaaswin Teg
- St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton
- The Good Shepherd Centre Hamilton
- The John Howard Society of Hamilton, Burlington & Area
- Wesley Urban Ministries Inc.
- YMCA of Hamilton/Burlington/Brantford
- YWCA Hamilton
For more information about the Hamilton C.A.R.E.S. situation table, please email [email protected].
This strategy identifies risk and protective factors that contribute to community safety and well-being, inform local challenges, identify targets to focus our efforts, and align resources for greatest impact in our community.
Aligning the City’s Hate Prevention and Mitigation Plan with broader community safety goals and building on partnerships with community initiatives such as Anti-Hate Coalition, Hamilton for All, and Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre. The ongoing focus includes strengthening the city’s response to hate incidents, implementing proactive measures to reduce hate and discrimination, and creating inclusive community spaces that foster belonging and diverse interactions.
Residents, community partners, and other groups are working together to find solutions that improve safety and well-being in the community. These efforts brings everyone together to identify issues and develop projects and programs to address them. The goal is to create positive change for the community.
In addition to these main areas of focus, other partners, including City departments, are also exploring how Community Safety and Well-Being initiatives can support important causes, such as:
- Advocating for living wage and basic income
- Conducting gender-based safety audits
- Addressing gender-based violence and intimate partner violence
- Promoting Pride awareness
- Supporting initiatives such as “Hamilton for All” and the Anti-Hate Toolkit
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