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Strategic Planning Train the Trainer Series Coming Up
Starting April 2023 via Webinar
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March 1, 2023
The Importance of a Plan for Community Vitality
Carlie Arbour, Economic Development Officer
Teeny Tiny Summit

Opportunity • Community • Naturally
Kawartha Lakes

Opportunity • Community • Naturally
The Plans
• 4 communities
• 4 unique plans
• 50+ volunteers
• >4,000 surveys
• Collectively 29 Goals
and 192 Actions
• 5 year implementation
15
• Key stakeholders in each
community
• Business Organizations
• Volunteer groups
• Municipality
• Engagement and buy-in varied
• Various levels of capacity
• For each community
• For each goal
• For each activity

Opportunity • Community • Naturally
Be honest about capacity
16
Image: https://www.jeffskipperconsulting.com/how-to-raise-your-employees-
capacity-for-change-in-just-10-minutes/

Opportunity • Community • Naturally
Collaboration is vital
17
Image: https://www.aihr.com/blog/collaboration-in-
the-workplace/

Opportunity • Community • Naturally
Build in some quick wins
18
Image: https://www.facebook.com/QuickWinsUK/

Opportunity • Community • Naturally
Scope creep is inevitable
19
Image: https://wproadmaps.com/define-wordpress-project-scope/

Opportunity • Community • Naturally
It’s a marathon, not a sprint
It’s a marathon, not a sprint
20

Opportunity • Community • Naturally
PIVOT
Priorities Change
21

Opportunity • Community • Naturally
What the team says
22

Opportunity • Community • Naturally
Thank you!
Carlie Arbour
Economic Development Officer – Community
City of Kawartha Lakes
carbour@kawarthalakes.ca
23

Discover More Adventures
Experiential Tourism Program
Planning to Implementation
📍 Ambe Winged Tours

▪ Discover More Adventures
▪ Strategic Beginnings
▪ Small Budget, Big Impact
▪ Building Program Champions
▪ Lessons Learned
📍 Huckleberry Hives
Outline

What is Discover More Adventures?
DMA Signature Experiences: A collection of unique, fun, and immersive adventures
offered by entrepreneurs and small business owners across Perth County.

Strategic Beginnings
▪ Connect with Experts ▪ Prepare to Get Dirty
📍 Lynn River Farm 📍 Huckleberry Hives 📍 Hoover’s Maple Syrup

Small Budget, Big Impact
▪ Experience Test Run / Dress
Rehearsal
▪ Experience Troubleshooting
▪ Experience Costing
▪ Customer Feedback
▪ Professional Photography
▪ Professional Videography
▪ Content Collection for
Social Media
=
1
DAY
📍 The Perth Farmhouse

Building Program Champions
<

Building Program Champions
📍 Windbreak Farm Woodworks
Friends & Family

Building Program Champions
📍 Lynn River Farm
Local Economic Development Experts

Building Program Champions
📍 Argyle Wines
Local Community Champions

Building Program Champions
📍 Ambe Winged Tours
Activity Specific Experts

Lessons Learned
1. Seek Expert Guidance
2. Get Dirty
3. Be Efficient
4. Keep Marketing Local and Fun
📍 Black Creek Flower Farm

Ashley Lansink
alansink@perthcounty.ca
519 – 301 - 5611
Let’s Connect! Get Social with
Perth County Tourism
@PerthCoTourism
perthcounty.ca/discover

36

No Better Time Than Now
Presentation for Teeny Tiny Summit
March 1, 2023
Mayor Robin Jones, Chair ROMA
May

Your Logo or Name Here
A Different Approach
Why has ROMA developed THIS plan NOW?
No Better Time Than Now
❑COVID-19 has changed everything
(the plan sets out 10 aspects of our
lives that have been changed by the
pandemic and (in our view) create
opportunities for Rural Ontario
❑The future is collaborative
(something that small places do
instinctively and often out of
necessity)
❑Rural Ontario has real opportunity to
be part of “whole province” solutions
38

Your Logo or Name Here
A Whole New World
The Housing
Squeeze
• Affordability as
prices surge
• Squeeze on supply
• Migration –
temporary and
permanent
Pressure on
Vital Services
• Health care
• Long-term care
• Mental health
Local Leaders
Step Up
• Reliance on local resources
• Virtual service delivery
• Attention to cross-
boundary/border
movement
• De facto case managers
Challenging
Labour Market
• Across-the-board
shortages
• Stubbornly high
unemployment
• Accelerating inflation
• Career/occupation
switching
Impact on Small
Business
• Lockdowns spur
support for local
• Disrupted supply
chains
• Upsurge in
ecommerce
• Sluggish recovery 39
Some of the ways the pandemic has changed
our communities and organizations

Your Logo or Name Here
COVID-19 Changed
Everything
… and created major opportunities
for Rural Ontario in the process
❑Working from home will remain a viable
option for many… but not all
❑“Local workforce” not restricted to “local
work”; employers can look further afield
❑Exploration of co-working facilities “in-
between” rural and urban areas
❑The natural “social distance” of rural
areas has become a positive attribute
❑Nature/outdoors is no longer “just for
vacation”
❑Seasonal residents could be “here” more
than “there”
❑Urban-rural housing cost differential
narrowing
❑Supply chains: “Just in case” overtaking
“just in time”
❑Buying “local” is seen as “available”.
Pandemic Prompts Thinking:
How Do We Want to Live?

Your Logo or Name Here
The “Starting Point” for ROMA:
Redefining Success in Rural Ontario
• Affordability/financial
squeeze
• Housing
• Access to services
• Expectations of newly-
arrived
• Transportation
• Digital connectivity
• Resilience rooted in
community capacity
• Stimulating
volunteerism
• Engaging newcomers
• Responding to mental
health challenges
• Beyond “rural lens”
on policy
• Encouraging
collaborations
• Strengthening rural-
urban linkages
• Stewards of the Land
• Water Quality
• Responding to
Climate Change
Addressing Demographic
Challenges
Ability to Live in Rural
Ontario
Community
Well-being
Proactive Local
Government
• Managing service pressures
• Reversing youth out-
migration
• Being ready for families
• Immigration
41
(Characteristics considered important for successful
communities)
Respecting the
Environment

Your Logo or Name Here
Rural Ontario: Full Partner in Prosperity
+$300 billion/yr in
economic activity
• $150B - manufacturing
• $21 B - construction
• $19B – agriculture and
forestry
• 1.1 million labour force
• $108B in goods
“exported out of region
Investment in
Transportation
Infrastructure
• Getting back and forth
to work
• Transportation for
Tourism
• Electrification and CAVs
• Freight movement
Digital Connectivity
and “Presence”
• What it means for
business &
institutions as well as
• … For municipalities
• ….For visitors
• … For residents 42
(contributions Rural Ontario is already
making)

Your Logo or Name Here
The Future is
Collaborative
… something that comes naturally to
Rural Ontario
Examples of Opportunities for Collaboration:
❑Digital connectivity enables collaboration
❑Innovation typically benefits from multiple
perspectives focused on the same challenge
❑“Closer to home” health care services
❑Community paramedicine
❑Solutions to housing challenges will be multi-
faceted (to meet varied needs)
❑Success on labour force front requires us to
address multiple issues at the same time
❑Funding formulae must be reworked to
address higher expectations while reflecting
‘realities on the ground’ (ex. long-term care)
43
Insert
photo

• ROMA released Opportunities for Rural Ontario in a Post-COVID
World in January of 2022.
– Five themes:
• Improved Digital Connectivity
• Address the “Full Spectrum” of Housing Needs
• Growth and Development Planning Suited to Rural Ontario
• Improved Access to Services
• Developing, Attracting and Retaining Labour Force of Future
– Urged re-imagined legislation and policies in ways that facilitate
local decision-making.
44

• ROMA affirmed housing as a priority theme in March 2022
– Focused on addressing the full spectrum of housing needs
– Created a Task Force:
Attainable Housing and Purpose-Built Rentals
– Why this focus?
• Rental accommodation continues to be in short supply
• Economies of scale in development harder to achieve
• Gaps in housing options make transitions difficult
• Competition for limited supply of homes driving up prices
– Also surveyed members: 255 responses
45

ROMA defines Attainable Housing as housing that is…
• Adequate in condition (no major repairs needed),
• Appropriate in size (bedrooms appropriate for household),
• Reasonably-priced (for lower and moderate income households)
• Available (a range of housing options)
ROMA defines Purpose-built Rental Housing as
“a self-contained building(s) containing four or more Dwelling
Units that are intended to be used for rental housing. Purpose-built
rental housing meets an identified need for housing in the
municipality and does not include condominiums (buildings that
are stratified).
46

What’s in the Report?
• A “technical” report
• More than 40 practical solutions to a myriad of planning and financial
challenges that are holding back progress on attainable housing and
purpose-built rentals in Rural Ontario.
• Additional measures (17) for collaborative work that supports solution
implementation
• 49 of 60 solutions/measures do not involve the Province spending
cash
• Report describes “the issue” before proposing “the solution(s)”
• Includes specific references to legislation and regulations that should
be changed
47

Five results we are expecting from implementing proposed solutions:
•Bring clarity to planning processes (by amending provincial legislation
and/or regulations)
•Delegate authority and flexibility for municipal governments (to bring
forward solutions that “fit” their communities while remaining consistent
with good planning principles and key planning documents --- such as their
Official Plans.
•Accelerate planning processes based on prioritization of specific types of
municipally-approved housing projects.
•Implement targeted incentives to enable proponents to reduce long-term
risk and model financially viable projects at scales and configurations that
work in Rural Ontario.
•Undertaking tasks that can get municipally-approved housing projects “out
of the gate” faster thereby reducing prospects for costly delays.
48

❑ Raise profile of “attainable” housing:
• Put definitions for attainable housing and purpose-built rentals in Provincial
Policy Statement and Planning Act…
❑ Expand planning authority for municipal councils
• Add explicit reference to municipal ability to interpret provisions of Planning
Act and Provincial Policy Statement and prioritize housing solutions that
address regional conditions
❑ Permit easier adjustments to settlement area boundaries
• Redefine “area of settlement” to give greater profile to towns, villages etc.
• Latitude to respond to varied growth pressures and development potential
• Design best servicing solutions for different parts of the municipality
❑ Delegate authority for defining “rural character”
• Remove term from Provincial Policy Statement
• Encourage local definition as part of Official Plan
49

❑ Allow municipalities to design servicing solutions that best fit local circumstances
▪ Remove reference in Provincial Policy Statement to “preferred form of servicing”
…
OR….
▪ Provide more flexibility to expand partial services for attainable housing and
purpose-built rentals into rural lands.
▪ Permit conventional and/or new technologies; could be partial services
▪ Proviso that both capital costs and business case for ongoing operations are
financially sustainable
❑ Address challenges of calculating and reporting uncommitted reserve capacity
▪ Update the MECP D-5 algorithm (method of calculation)
▪ Provide assurance of acceptance for ECA licensing
❑ Establish a process for third party testing and pre-qualification of new water &
sewer options
▪ Provincially-funded; involve MMAH, MECP and municipalities
▪ Cover new technologies and systems
50

❑ Regulatory Clarity for Tiny Homes
▪ Incorporate Ontario Building Code definition of Tiny Homes in
Provincial Policy Statement
▪ Prohibit appeals on Tiny Homes policies contained in an Official Plan
▪ Ensure that “rural character” is not used in a way inconsistent with
Human Rights Code (equal treatment with respect to the occupancy
of accommodation)
▪ Develop CSA designation specific to Tiny Homes
▪ MMAH-led Review of planning and development requirements
(septic capacity requirements and density calculations)
51

❑ Streamline Processes for Rural Subdivisions and Consents
▪ Permit the adoption of inclusionary zoning policies without requiring a)
implementation of development permit system as replacement of zoning
bylaw, and b) amendment of Official Plan
▪ Provincial fund for municipalities in Rural Ontario to undertake required
studies with subdivision development potential (ex. hydrogeological
studies, archaeological resource assessments)
▪ Consents: OMAFRA to work with municipalities in Rural Ontario on criteria
to assess agricultural value of land parcels with soil Classes 4 through 7
helps municipalities determine consent decisions; (no changes proposed
re: Classes 1 to 3 (prime agricultural lands))
52

❑ Rethink Requirements for Development-Related Studies
▪ Acknowledge municipal authority for assessments of archaeological
potential
▪ Targeted provincial funding for municipal Archaeological Master Plans
▪ Report contains process examples of how assessments could be done in
ways that link directly to municipal planning processes
❑ Clarity on Minimum Distance Separation in Rural Areas
▪ OMAFRA and planning authorities work together to balance different
expectations across regulations and guidelines (especially considerations
related to reduction in MDS)
53

❑ Ensuring Timely Comment on Development Proposals and Approval of
Official Plans
▪ Immediate implementation of One Window approach for all provincial
ministries – focus on housing development
▪ Interim measure: inter-ministerial team convened by MMAH
▪ Missed municipal timelines due to lack of feedback from provincial
ministry makes penalties/refunds to proponents null and void
▪ Greater use of alternative means to assess environmental impact, natural
heritage and conservation-related comment and analysis
54

❑ Introducing a New Approach to Appeals
▪ Disallow appeals on:
▪ Approved development proposals determined by municipality to be
attainable housing or purpose-built rental housing
▪ Municipal decisions where appellant does not cite bona fide planning
consideration
▪ Non-decision by municipal council within 120 day period if review
process is proceeding or if waiting for legislatively-required feedback
▪ Municipally-approved ZBA required to implement an (approved) Plan
of Subdivision
▪ Any development matter that is part of an approved Official Plan
unless appellant participated in public consultation and demonstrates
concerns raised were not adequately addressed
▪ OLT establish appellant fees that are proportionate to impact appeal
process will have on subject development proposal
55

❑ De-risk Attainable Housing and Purpose-Built Rental Projects
▪ Province identifies surplus lands and/or Crown land with potential for attainable housing and
purpose-built rentals; transfer to municipalities at less than market rates; waive provincial land
transfer taxes
▪ Province expand the Brownfields Financial Tax Incentive Program by cancelling 100 per cent of
education tax portion of property tax if municipality cancels 50 per cent of municipal property
taxes (part of Community Improvement Plan)
▪ Expanded use of land leases beyond 21 years less a day
▪ Explicit encouragement of attainable housing and purpose-built rentals in Community
Improvement Plan
▪ Ontario Building Code amendment to modify parking requirements
▪ Work with federal bodies (FCM and CMHC – Housing Accelerator Fund) to ensure
that housing projects important to municipalities in Rural Ontario are eligible for
support:
▪ Updating land inventories
▪ Estimating servicing costs for high-potential sites
▪ Methodologies and best practices
▪ Archaeological assessments (possibly cost-shared with Province)
56

NEXT STEPS…..2023
Improved Access to Services
(hub & spoke)
57

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